Full text of "Crash Magazine Issue 12"

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AZ 1984/85 



C1.25 






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Features: 

10 

UOYD'S LOOK BACK AT 1964 

Will 84 get the thutnltiS'up or thumbs-down? 

56 

READY STEADY GO! 

What have Rom ik got in store for ^7 

60 

THE BIGGEST COMMERCIAL BREAK 

Art ill -depth srtalvsis of Imagirke's collapM 
70 

SABREWULF'S JUNGLE 
AOVEINTTURE 

A $hon stQrv by Charlv^ Cohen 

94 

CRASH READERS AWARDS 1984 

The ct\arts— as ihey si and 

112 

LOOK FORWARD TO 198S 

W© \OCiktit h9rdlwi»r# iQt 8^ 

145 
ROBIN CANDY'S POKES CORNER 

Robin stfis Iti rough some pokfls 
148 

INSIDE CRASH 

Exdusive lootc ai ^kwv ilie m»g tc mads 





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We^ overwhelmed. Though we should just add that with Atarisoft,)rou can now play Pale Position* on the 
Commodore 64. BBC and Sf>ectnjm computers, as well ^ on all Atari* P^JLE P^^SITI^JN 
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SEASONAL GOOD WILL 



Welcome to the CRASH 
CHRISTMAS SPECIAL! Its 
quite a sp^al issue for us b& 
well, because this is th^ 
tirtlfth issue and So marks a 
year of publishing This 
somewhat expanded issue oi 
CRASH is siglitly unusuaJ in 
itiel tfiere ire b few less 
nivlews then nomnaJ, but that 
is mad© up tor wtlti the other 
ocids ajid &fxjs, especially t!% 
twelve competttions whicn t 
b&timB total up to over £7. 000 
worth in prizes Ttiere is also 
the 1 985 Calendar, a 1 6 page 
full colour pull out wfth Six 
months on mther sidep 
complele witti two pant 
pldufes by Oliver Frey. Orv 
top of 9m we have LI oy d 
Ite^pim*! Look BacR. a 
peraonal view of Ihis year's 
software from ttie man who 
t)iinh3 He knows ii ail (I have lo 
^ mf own back sometimesK 
Derak Brawler has 
pft^uoed a kxiger than usual 
article on the siste of 
adventure sollwaf e as part of 
1t\© Adventu re Trail arwJ 
Afigy« itj^l has gone and 
got qpey soimwhere and 
picked ancihef ftghl mMi an 
advertiser As you caf> Sd6p it's 
business as usual ^ As pari of 
t>e onctended Playing Tips, 
this month, Rotilfi Candy. 
Lydlow's answer lo P^ Hacker, 
has been pr es^anged into 
doinq a Pokes Comer, a 
tpundb ol ctie«te lor the lazy 
afiwJe ptayer. Aod H 
produdng a cati^ndar wan'l 
enough, there s a double 
helping of the TenrtiAal Man 
from Oliver Fray Luny 
Jetman has a 000^0 ol pages 
to himnseJf too. And \hen 
there's the speaal article 
which explains how CRASH 
gelspyt together every morvthp 
wNcti rnighf ^ve you an 
Insight irno vmy n>a6t 
mMUifie people are a little 
nulqf atHmaSi and thora^a a 
pieoe aboul what it was IHce for 
tie BSC TV crew to film 
Imagine as the Lrverpool 
software house headed 
towaf ds its nervous 
breakdown. So I thif^ thefe's 
plenty to keep you occupied 
gairtfutly over the loog dark 
*days of the Christmas holiday 
and we hope you en^ 1h^ 
contents. 



FREEDOM TO SPEAK 



It wouldn't be quite right, 
season of goodvirill 
rK3(withstaj>dingH to have an 
edftoriai wtthout some serious 
conterrl, and on this, our 
twelfth i^u«ltalt^ 
som^Ahing rotating to the 
iTiagai:ine s first y^r of 
eMisfence Being a icteUy 
Independent outfit has meant 
having a loi more freedom to 
apeak m^nds than is often 
possible in a publication 
owned and operated by a 
large oofporation In CRASH 
we have tried to offer writers 
the freedom to say what they 
went, and although fhta oan 
sometimes lead toihe ftoh of 
ilEbei (tor all sorts of odd 
thir»gs). respon^iNe v^en 
can make good use ol it 
Tlhere is a computer magazine 
(no names but it has a big 
letter) that daimed to be 
outspoken, irr^erent and 
newsy - in fact just wfial 
young computer owners 
wanted. 8utbetr>g irreverenl 
tan't what people raatly wani, I 
ffljsped You can be 
subversive in attitude, 
oertaMy Ught^hearted, but aM 
these attitudes must be 
underlain with a core ol 
sefk>usnaea, ottiarvMo ttie 
comments iriade man^ worth 
the paper they are printed on. 
In other words, it's oce thing to 
have fun and quite another to 
baredundani 

Any magazine that relies on 
advertjstna revenue for much 
0* its monthly income is 
obvioulsy put in an invidious 
positbn when ft comes to 
tgkirig money from an 
advertiser who later di solvers 
that his product has been 
heaviy and negatively 
crittdsed. t have often had the 
bnpreMksn that more prisma 
gab put on GB ASH than on 
others along the lines of. ' no 
good review, no ad booking, ' 
and whilst one can't exactly 
blame an advertiser lor the 
attFtude. it seems odd that the 
same advertiser will still take 
space in other magazines 
when they etther ignore his 
produd or treat it jiusi as wa 
may have done, ie. svthttt 
the game is mbbish Ferh^ps 



II undedin^ (he fad that 
CRASH wouki seem to have 
become, as several people in 
the t>ii&iness have saki, the 
trade l^uying guide for 
Spednim ^nware. Trade 
papers, on the whde. steer 
c^r of making personal 
comment on product, thetr job 
beirg to heip sell it, Vm ma 
saying that we have felt loo 
much of this (unfair?) pressure 
over tf^ year, tmt it has been 
(here. 

On (he Other hand w9 tiara 
probably lakl ourselvet Opan 
to this preesure because 
software houses often ring to 
see if a game has been 
reviewed and how lit dM. If we 
krxsw. we tend to leli thfem. h/fy 
experience from the other side 
of the fence hias been tfml if 
you try that with most other 
computer puUicalions they 
w« teR you that they cannot 
Ifill you anything because they 
are nol allowed to. Their 
adverlisement manager, 
however, s very likely {if he 
knows} to ring you up and 
offer you a select choice of 
bits of the review - rmturaJly 
the bm tttat make the review 
sound (ike a happy one. The 
tnith is, ttvat the Biwi 
software scene is really quite 
small, quite dose knit, 
magazine personnei get to 
krK)w their advertisers quite 
well, rt caii hurt to have to say 
to someone you know and like 
that their game is a load of 
lubbsh. But v^ithoul tine 



ireedom to say so, K it's Inje, a 
magazine like CRASH loses 
al credibHlPty Tiie reai answer 
fe that software houses shouki 
just produce the vefy best. But 
that's utopJan? 

One thing 1 tiave noticed 
dufii^ this year, aixl am 
thankrul for, is that if we slip up 
over a review m any way, yoti 
are all vepy quick to say so. At 
the end of the day. whether 
the aocdade of being also a 
trade guide is true or riot, 
CRASi^ 1 s hare ior the buyeiv 
of software as wsl as for (he 
producers of software 

On a slightly different 
aspect of the same subiect, 
we are carrying an article this 
issue about Imagine and rts 
demise, as seen (largely) 
through the eyes of the BBC 
film crew wfio worked with 
Inv^ine rigttt up to the end. 
This is a touchy subject 
bocauoomuch 0^ what is 
known or has been said by 
people imrolved, is perscsnal. 
hkNinally a publicabon is 
e^c|>acted to take a very 
impartial view of anything on 
whid^ It reports, and 1 hope 
wtial is wrttten (by me in I act) 
is at lea^ balanced To be 
impartial in thi$ case is rK)>t 
easy, t>ec^use Imagine owed 
CRASH a lot of money Ma 
time when we desparalily 
needed i. There httS been a 
suggestkm t^ a paiBon 
connedled with the Imagine 
business that Ff we say 
arrything he does not (ice that 



OmiliftEVIEWED IN THIS ISSUE 



ASmOMAUT SoftMrara 
BAOCPiCKeiSOUOETO 

BOUlDBtOAGHFfOr 

RuniMV . 
CYCLOM Vortex 
COUnmY COTTAGES 

Smrtin g Softwgf 
ii Domeric 
iFANFACTORV 
mm S4ip«r Sovws 
UQ(^UJtim«t« 
lANDBt Software 
Savfin 
iObE RUNNSt Softwnra 
PfOl 



36 

34 

/4 
76 

186 

126 

135 
16 

1B6 

38 

COfHIVhCT Atlantis 118 
HUHCMXmOAaOIIT 
CflL 188 

MOON UGHiat Software 
SkiBwrSaver* 136 

New CYLON ATTACK N«w 



POLI POSmON AiariKyft 
POTTY PIGEON Onmlin 
Graph tea 
PUJMMETItntarwpfeDf 

RAcwG pnaMrnoiis 

Buffar MilcfO 
SICVHAfM^lt MtcPCMphare 




Progcia 

vMnrvWi K 



CtAYMOnilUi CASTUE 

Advantyre Intarnalkioal 

STEVE DA VtS SNOOKBt 

CDS 

THEISYTOTME 

tumpioft 

THSttO Arcada Software 

THE RUNES OF ^NDOS 

Dofca* 

THE STAFF OF ZMMNOt 

CCS. 

THE FALL GUV Elite 

UNDQMPOmSEUttimata 

VOI£MIOGiinn 




CRASH Christmas Special 7 




ACQ AMULET WINNERS 



we wtll t» running the risk of a 
(ibel suit, II soems ironical that 
CRASH should los^ a loi of 
money in what can only be 
sean as mt>ra[ly dubious 
ciroum^l^nces ^nd then risk 
\m\t^Q more lo the very people 
lo wtiom we t^rsi fos: rt and 
who benefited m some snull 
way t^ it I mention all this 
because I don't want anyona 
to think that the article is 
written in any vefigef ul sens©, 
beoaue n f$n t And to those 
who have said to me that H all 
happened six monrf^ ago, 
why bring it up again, i can 
only repiy that the story has 
nol been tulty told (Bruce 
Everiss has had a tong pleide 

but iVs by no nieans the whde 
of It) ana a function o( CRASH 
is to inform on more than jusi 
the games t don1 claim that 
ttiis IS the entire story etther - 
tof that we will probably have 
to wait a long while, by which 
time we really may no! care - 
tXit H certainly includes 
material th^t hasn't been 
mentioned biefore. 

PSYTRAXX MAP 




B I viHT FriY pf ftwHi lif intlinili ACS AimlttI lrtip% l4 ^ viMwt ot iif tiNi MM 

Mtf] C^dnevliNca 



Allef admiring the larga 
Ultimate trophy of the ACG 
AmulM for fisv^:&l weeks, 
whlcti was iKtin^ in the art 
department warting for its 
winners, CftASH s OavKJ 
Western polished 14 up one 
ta^ time ready to pf esent it to 
Steven WeetlarKt and h^s two 



young assistants, Ian 
Stathamand David 
Weatland The three boys are 
from Wwt Wickham in Kent, 
and travelled up with Steven s 
father (who is a policeman) lo 
visit the CRASH offices in 
Ludtow on Friday 9th 
November. 



Steven(agedi4) was 
responsible for the design and 
drawino o^ the Sabm Wulf 
map, while Ian (aged 13) did 
the character Wow ups wtiich 
adorned its key and wrote out 
the details. aj>d David (aged 
1 1 ) helped with the map 
design and did the colouring. 

Theirs was also the biggest 
of the entries with the actual 
map rrieasyhng something in 
e)(cess of 6 feet by 4 feet. 
Apart from being very large 
and very accurate, rt was 
surprisingly delicate in 
colouring, as our colour 
picture in the Novemb^ Issue 
shows. 

On arriving at Ludlow; the 
boys arKl Mr. WesttarxJ were 
lakeit to lurifdh by David 
Weatern af«f Franco Frev, 
after wlilch the UAimate ACQ 
Tropy was presented by OHver 
Frey who, for the occasion, 
took a lew minutes off trom 
producjf^ calendar artworiti It 
was rather frning that that very 
day the first copies of 
Ultimate s new game Knight 
LotB arrived. Now we await 
Itie flood of entries for 
mcf&fwuffde &nti Kni^t Lotb 
in wtiat promisen lo be 
Ultimate s most exciting 
competition yet, with loads of 
new Spectnjnns to be won as 
well as software and ciothing 
impedimenta I 




As a rather good Illustration of 
what I was saying earlier in the 
piece above, we will be 
canTing a pretty e]ctensive 
map of P^^raxK the game 
from The Edge m mx\ mwth s 
inue. I uy it s an illustration 
benuaelrie Edge did come 
in for a bit of sniping from our 
News Input pages a couple of 
months back am tt^e review of 
the game ilsetf, while rioi bad* 
was not over enthysiestic. 
NiMrttMlen, thera are a lot 
of people out there playing it 
Bnd gettng hoples&ly lost m 
tl^ thousar^ls o1 rooms v^ile 
doing so. Showing there are 
no hard feelings over a few 
remarks. The Edge have 
gtven CRASH the exclusive 
right to print the map of 
f^ytfaxx which I hope will give 
a helping hand to tfie many 
landed deep in the RGBs 
andchipet 

Inddefitally, we are lookirig 
forward lo seeing the next 
release from The Edge, called 

a CRASH Christmas Special 



6r^ar7 BhodaMe. It's been 
described as an 'incredibly 
compter game' whic^i features 
tie hero bafflling his way 
through an unfnendly plattomi 
environment. There are T(M 
screens and a lot of dues and 
objects to be found alor>g the 
way U^imately , tt^ aim is to 
find the valuable hidden 
treasure, but everything 
pomibiB h^pens to make this 
an mOrmrmy ditf cult task 
We'll be reviewing 8nan 
Bloodaxe rmyct month, when 
it's business back to usual arid 
Christmas out of the way I 

Have a happy holKlay , anti 
enter every competition, the 
pfizes BIB well worth it! 



nOQERKEAN 




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CRASH Cliristmas SpectaJ 9 



L 



Uoyd Mangram 



• If 



KS BACK 




It seems amazing that a year has gone by since I was last 
handed the job of writing an article which looked at the 
happenings of a past year, lor what was then an embryonic 
magazrne with the peculiar name of CRASH. In looking back, 
Vm tempted to say 1 984 was probably the year of CRASH , but 
I can't really concern myself entirely with this publication, as 
it's the software Tm supposed to deal with here! One thing I 
will say, is that it has been a hectic and eventful year for 
CRASH, with the magazine going from strength to strength, 
often threatening to outstrip the resources of the small team 
that puts it together, but it s been fun. Actually, Tm at a slight 
disadvantage, because my ever-ready CRASH Binder is 
missing issue one as someone nicked my copy before the 
binders came along, and then the issue sold out entirely! 
Anyway, here goes, • * 



Spotbiig trends and ooiTh 
menting on them wilti 
Nndsignf, is Hhe main fort© of 
loumaiists. possiblv because it 
Gives us a feeling of supenority 
Inkadtoa sense that w© were 
not riiponsJbleV On the otf>dr 
hand, trend- spotting is not only 
fun. It 0^ also be \ru\y mfor- 
mMive. V I had to sum up 1 9B4 
%wy qujokly I wou id point to the 
rlM of the adventure, tfie death 
of 9m arcada shoot em up, the 
software slurrvp, the drwnailc 
Improventent in software and 
prooramming. the hse of 9m 
jvmmlgarm link up and the 
miftgting of arcade with adven- 
tyre. 

The year is goiif>g out. sig- 
itncaiwy. tS^ way rt came in. 
llUmate gave us AUc Atac 
»xJ pddbd the way to 
arcade/advertures. a trend 
tt>0y have pursued relefrties^ly 
throogh a mere handful of lour 
games to the e(«ce(tence of 



Kmght Lore. Ultrmate fiave 
siMdfaatly refused \o talk' to 
t^ cxKHpytef press, norar 
appear at snoiA^, have 
avoided all software house 
ink'Ups that seem to have 
been the way of IrFe through 84 p 
arKf have released very tittle, 
but very select, product. Otivl- 
ously the putalk love K 

Aiic Atao was poWifB the 
way towards a r>ew oo n oa p t in 
ajoade games, and suggested 
that arcade players didn't just 
want mindless zap games. 
Other software houses were ta 
pfovide more such enter- 
tainment, but looking at the 
reviews in the Mardi issae 
(many of which appeared at 
ttie end of January and during 
February), there wasn t much 
sign of it yet Im^glfieseemed 
to be trying wrih A/chem^f , buf 
in truth tt>e game was a tot of 
hot air arxj Sttxrker^ kept 
crashing, though ri dkl prove 



that a better looking wargame 
was a distmct po^foility 
Throughout 64, an obvious 
irerxi from 83 is a|jparef^l In 83 
everyone was ovybig afcade 
originals^ in 84 tray started 
copying each other, or is rijjj^ 
aynchronidty at work. The 
Maidi issue ^irned reviews 
for Ooeen's Huitchback{B 
Ik^efte^d arcade copy) and Vk* 
Micro s Punchv. Generally we 
preferred the lalter. although 
saies of Hunchbcak indicated 
disagreement there, ni c^ll Ihie 
tfie ielf-aspy trend , as it crops 
upaniiitandaaain, 

H arokte co(hbs were on the 
wane, arcade hl^ scoring 
games were nol. A&Fhadthetr 
erxJuringly popular O^uckie 
Eggout. afKf Fentety were 
dimbing Ihe charts with 
Doofma&Y Castfe feaivring 
super hero Ziggy who, approp- 
rtalety enou^. has emerged 
again for ttie efid ol the year i^ 



BBckpBckms Gurde to tfre 
Unt)feme. Cttuckie Egg has 
gone into ttia annals of nistory 
along wilh Lunar Jetman as 
one of tie ace hl-score games. 
Bug-Bytemodestty rdeased 
Birds and trte B&bs on which 
Matthew Smith had worked 
and loltowed it up with the 
mudi better Antics on whidi 
Mattfiew Smhh did no< work- 
But Matthew s name mis on 
everyone s lips with the rmm 
that Martic Mmot follow up Jet 
Sef Wtfy was imminent It 
wisnt (hough. Two out- 
standing programs also 
ippeared then. Fighm P;/of 
from Digital Integration and 
Mfieel/efrpm M hnmfl ti m m. 
The former showed km horn 
far the Spectmrn opufd go (ft's 
gone further sttll) andf how 
exdttfig a simulation could b&, 
the tatter was |ust a damned 
good» original game with super 
graphics. Add to this the smait 
3D graphics of Android 2 by 
Vortex, and at times Space 
Invaders nevef looked further 
away. Not so, however, 64 has 
produced some real erode 
games too. 

Quite a few crocks appeared 
bi a s^if-copy battle to bt itie 
IfM WFth a real Pole Po^llqn' 
ganro Ones that cofpe to mind 
are Grand Pax DnvBf. Britan- 
nia, a bit ynpjayabie but noral 
gmphiCT^ Speed Due/* 
DKTronlca. complelely 

urqiriayable and rather t>odr)g 
graphtct; Psion's eKoellent 
OtBOUBrnd Ftog. which dif- 
f&red from the otheiB by being 
mofe Qi a Simulation ; tfiere was 
Hie scandal over rip offs from 
Spirit Software and their 
steefing wheel version called 
formuta On€, which wtlen it 
finally tunned up was a veiy 
damp squib irKieed; Acti vi- 
sion recently had a go with the 
novel Enduro: the best was 
probably Micromega's greai 
FuH ThroittB, and last, not 
.entirely least, the one thai 
spawned the whcM tting, 
Atsrlsoft have manaQed to 
limp OLfl with Ftote Pmitior7. 

Bock to the earlier monthe. 
Dyratl tolned another setf- 
copy imt Scuba Dive, atian- 
doining oular space for what 




sc«i£ 




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10 CRASH Christmas Special 





sdentists J ike ro casi inner 
space. The underwater theme 
was also piched up by Bug- 
Byte \r\Aqumus , whi<ti wasn't 
ao flood, by Richard 
Shiphtri In the awtui Dey^fs 
of the Cfeep and later by C^ R- 
L in their lighiweighi but fun 
Gtug-Gtug. Of all, Scuba 
Dfvewas tf^ b©« and rrx^ 
playatsle. 

Moving or* a month, the crop 

qf the crocks was improving as 

the Christinas 83 boom 

receded Mo the slough of 

deapond. C. R. L. offerd two 

oompiiftaly pathetic games. 

C^t^em^ and Lunar Lander. 

Muiic pyblishef K-Tel grao^ 

us wjth abominatJoris called 

dajbte-skters^ and proved that 

music for pleasure is one thif>g 

but MFP also stands for More 

FaHed Progr&ms. tt s a sign of 

the timss that KJei took stock 

during tiie year, gave them- 

sdves a new mart^eting image 

kn Front Runner arKi have jusi 

nieased the exoeilent Boutdm 

Dash, v^id^ ki so good it 

flteotves theiTi of their earlier 

tiorriiB. March and April was 

fiteo (he lime when that other 

publisher of music Virgin, who 

■ce K-Tel fiad nevec found a 

gome worthy ot the name. 

DTDught out Dr Franky and 

showed there was hope lor 

them. They too have improved 

their poifUon enorrnoustyH 

feieasing the odd but good 

Strangmbop a cxHjpte of 

months bac*£ 

Digital Integration proved 

ti fighter P^torwasn't a flash 



in the pan by reteasing Night 
Gunner, more a game ihan a 
sjmtilation, and Artie pulled 
them&elves togeltipef on the 
arcade tront mri Bmr Sbwer , 
The unovan lUn atartod 
anofher setf-copy theme In 
helicoplefB with Chopper XT, 
a ralner second rate game 
wWch paved the way for- 
Riehard Wlicox and Blue 
Thund&r. Loath to leave a fly- 
ing idea, the aftered Wricox as 
Elite is about to re tease Airwolt 
based on ttie current tellv 
series. Just recently Durell 
have cxmtlnued the theme with 
their excallent simulation' 
atraiegy game Combat Lynx. 
and sofT)ewhat belated, we still 
await Digital Int^imtion's 
game based on a helicopter. 

Going onto the May issue we 
wece treated to a real mix of 
good and bad Ignonng the 
Bad. April/Uay saw the refease 
of some eac^leni programs, 
among them Derek Brewstef's 
amazing Cotfe Name Mat 
released by Micromega 84 
could well t^ calked the Year of 
Micromega, having started off 
well wrth the 30 D&athchase, 
CNM added to their lustre, fuH 
ThfoWe polished it to a shine 
flfid the li^ three releases 
Bmxx Bhift, Kentiila and 
Jasper have shown a wll- 
lingiT«ss to go tor the unusual 
and the be^. Hewfton Con* 
syitanta also wer^t from 
strength to strength, releasing 
the third in Steve Turner's 
Seiddab tribgy. 3D Lur^attack. 
The OKpefSence gained with 



ttime ^mes fin^ally led to 
Steve turning in the advanced 
3D adventure Legend of 
Avahn. 

We had t>een treated to a 
spedal preview of Software 
Projects" monstef release Jei 
Se! Wtfty and took screen shots 
of It which later caused much 
confusion because they dfdn t 
match wtth the actually 



wfoog with the program, and 
so it seemed But the Attic btjg 
doesn't seem to have put any* 
one seriousty off enioying tl^ 
most torn apart gajne m hts- 
tory. You oouki almost say that 
Jet Set \Mlfy was poked to 
death „ 

tt was also the month that a 
new company called Gargoyle 
Games delighted us with an 




rele^ed game. One writer 
mm\ accused us of taking as 
the preview shots showed 
screens at) with capital tetters 
for the under titles on some 
and a mixture of oapitaJs and 
tower oe&B on others, Matthew 
Smith woukl never do this we 
were toW But he did. TTiefe s 
no doubt thai Htm raleaiM of 
JS W was the biggtet evwvl for 
ages. It wasn't long, however, 
before the ace fuckers staned 
comf>!aining -something was 



did fashioned shoot em up with 
modem 30 graphics called Acf 
Astra. We were ail rather 
pleased witfi ourselves at 
CFIASH because we were the 
first to spot the gam^e and push 
It Our faith has not t>eefi mis- 
placed as Gargoyle's latest 
mammoth graphic adverrture 
ISrIita Mogproves 

Inrignffibaifl at the lime, was 
a game called Sp&ce Station 
Z&bra, which we didnt think 
much of, from another new 



I 




CRASH Ctifislmas Special 11 



FUEL 
4^ SB 



GRAPHIC SCI^EE 



JiPfl 






C**MoeB« 



oomapny caih^g themselvaa 
Beyorvd Software LiMe were 
w© ro know (as they say in 
good adventure stories. . . ) 

Aft^r a tong pmm htiagln« 
thnew 0U1 trie dtoiwoindr^ 
P^ro and prepared to nose 
#v@ 4nto bankruptcy. Summar 
virasappfoadiing. 



which has lod many inlo argu- 
ment over Its merits. We dk^ i1 
a l0l. At the launch m London, 
we al&o gcri to see a glimpse cpf 
a new type of adventure 
strategy waigame called Lo/rfs 
of Midnight. 

June/July brough the 
sumimer slump into bfightef 





The Jtrne tSSue looked a t>it 
thin on good games, the crocks 
pf edom j nating . He wson ' s 
Fantasm Diamond gave 
adventurers a lot to think 
about, as did the second in 
liKwitlve'i Ker Trilogy - 
Temph of Vr&n . Otherwise the 
only brtght light really was 
Beyond^ P&Ytwn, a game 



locus -hai^ly anything to 
report, but wart f Uttlmade lothe 
rescue! Sabm Wuif oeused 
contfoveray over the almost 
doubting in price, but few 
argued with the games graph- 
ics. We liked dceans Moan 
A/ert. aJso a subject ot a seJf- 
copy theme. v^rUi the Vla- 
kNis Mcxm Buggy and 



Antrog s same of the same 
naine alt out. Rabbit had also 
promised a Spectrum version 
of their C64 hit on the theme 
called TroopB Truck, but (he 
oomapny s demise quashed 
that. 

Sinclair gave ua a sudden 
spate of releases, mcistty 
average to mediocre with the 
exception of the excellant Stop 
(ft a Express . and Imagine con* 
tinued down the siippenf stopa 
wtl*> the exoaWe Cosmic 
Cwiser. Melboume Koum. 
now very late with the tong- 
a waited Sherfock, diverted our 
attention from their problems 
with Philip Mitcheil'S graphic 
entertainment Mug^sy, while 
Sllveraon. very quiet of late, 
slipped out with the highly orig- 
inal WGsre Things Happm at 
Sea. 



Ju^yAugust saw the u 
aixJ instant pedestal pladng of 
Bayonet's Lords of Midnighi 
One Boftware house who 
always seemed to have just 
mrssad was MIkra-Qen, but 
with the ofealion of Wtity 
Week ir^ Aatomania, Ihey 
changed all that, fnanaging to 
foltow H up with the more 
recent and better still 
fV/a/7iarama. Other h^jh mote 
were Rapsc&ftion from mij- 
Byte and TIL from Vortex, 
boih &oaatir>g strikingfy dif- 
ferent graphtes. Microfnanla 



m^e a bid for the hi-s<x>ra 
stakes with Kosmic Kanga, 
and the mooth saw anolner 
brar>d new software house 
emerge with the oapadty for 
fine programmini^ -Realtime 
wHh their definrtrve Battle 
Zone" type game 3D Tank 
DuBl^ Once again the CflASH 
team (elt they were helping to 
create a software house, bf 
nirtiing something they 
beReviM in, and cKice again the 
faifh was not m^splac^ as i 
HMftlme worked on their latest ' 
release, Siarstrike , now out . I 

July/August proved to be 
atxxjt as dead as it could get, 
with only a furious shoot em up 
from Creative Sparks to enii* 
ven proceedings Black Hawk 
was curioi^ly otd fashioned, 
but fun to play. For adventurers 
the lor>g -awaited release of 
The Hufk proved that graphics 
make adventures look good, 
but that more is sometimes 
required to make them good to 
play C. R- L. take the cradit for 
being the first software house 
out wrth the setf-copy theme of 
the year - tfie Olympics- Their 
aptly named Olympics ftad 
been a gross disappointment , 
ar>d Automata s Qtympimanla 
was a the usual toad of 
anarchic fun, but Database, 
publishers of Micfo Usee ^ were 
the first with a serious treat- 
ment in Micro Otympic^^ 




12 CRASH Chfistmas Special 



■JF ^' 







"i .- . 1 



>%•• 



tf m 



mMr \ 




x^ 



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.^ ^ 



SRHERBHEyiAybjE 



Retiw the during eupforts oi Aogcr th« Dodg|«f throijgh his 
prodigy Slippy Sid. More skill, more n^rve, thri coolTitti* 
character imti rtcn only to folksw in hi% f^rnoui parenf ( 
foot5t«ps, but to rstdbhvh tome amazifig f ^ats of bs* 
own. Mancyi not hi(gam«. Es^onage lihis muddle 
name artd having forced bii way intts ihe Naiional 
Securffy HO be's faced wrth j| no return journey 
through one of ihe most dangerous, mosl 
compleii fauiidingi in the lind. Can he successfully 
comp4tt« a ncfV* tlngNftg search for the golden £e« 
- hh only meaniof eK#pe= ar mr^rt^irse havhfs ikfti 
and daring taken him too far Waich out for those weird 
k ilie r "secu rrty gtjards - you nev« r know what chilling 
(Ufprisei the rnad Kienliits have produced - and beware the 
fSoor doesn't disappear from unJef your feet, tending you 
to an early graiee. 




Available from all good dealers 
or direct from: 

Alljgata Software Ltd 
1 Orange Street Sheffbid SI 4DW 
Tel: (0742) 75S796 



^lligata 

r M ^M 5of tw^ Lirnted 



I 




Buffer also did a program, and 
llelboume House have cor>- 
tifujad the ihame with Spori^ 
H^fomtm^B Hill liiac<ltbbon 
wKh Alt! lor Go/c/{r ©viewed :n 
the n&xt fssue), twjt the b^;t 
lilted JS Irom Ocoon WFth £>ce/ey 

JuM to prove that although 
Spec^tn games Batmed to 
be improving in technique all 
the wt^ile a real aock coukj gai 
through. Mcstertronlo got 
ttieif advefiiure lor all tirne 
reviewed aftof a reader wrote 
in saying we hadn t done it. and 
why not as it was fab. VoyagB 
into thB Unknown gol. I think, 
the lowest laUng ever from 
CRASH at that thm. H was only 
beMvi by Elephants 
Stupendously bad Hosfmk 
PimtB. 

Wrth Sepi ember .Odobef, 
things looked as ItXK^h ttiey 
should bnghten up with the 
pre-Chri^tmas rush (o look 
fomrard to. And in some 
rwpecb things did. The 
October issue saw Hlc^ 
romeqa out with Btmx Bluff 
and Khntitia tsy Derek Brews- 
ter :f^wilf N Sl^m from P. S. S. 
, whlcti proved lo he quite a 
good platlgim game, while Sll- 
vereoft were busy proving 
ftaf old memes couia be 
r&worked to pn^idB a tight 
new gBftie in HypwBcUon. 
ShBflock finally arrived, one 
year late and catching trains 
TTom the wrong statiori. and a 



new oompai^ celf^ Gremlin 
Gf«ptilc« introduced us to the 
dusty wandehngs ol Monfy 
MotB . pc^sibty the fi rst game to 
r^ty look like it couk) steal the 
laurals from ttie as much 
malignad as hadced and 
played Jet Set Wflty. C. R. L 
started the trend of pfodudng 
the game of ttie film by releas- 
ing the sJightty disappointing 
TiBfrahawks, which was 
neverthl^ras a better exper- 
imerrt than thejr game ot the 
music vetB^ of War ot f/7& 
Worids. The CDfnpettion for 
securing lioen<^s from Hol- 
lywood ajid ShefHierds Bus h is 
I hotting up with Ocean and Eltte 
fighting over Airwotf (Elite won 
this one). C. R L. rdleasii^ thB 
game of megahi! Msaic 
Houndabout . Act! via too 

scooping on the super hit ttim 
G/tos tbusiBT^ , DKTrofiics 
aecwring Minder and Popeye. 
and now Elite have Fait Guy 
out and so on. 

Which more or less bnng us 
up to date, as the Cinristmas 
software fights it out to be top 
of the chart Amongst tt^e 
recent releesee I have a few 
persof^i favountes that I 
wouid tike to see do we3l, and 
oddly one of ti^ose m D&us Ex 
Machine from Automata I 
think it s over priced, tjut I can 
see tt>at it must have cost quite 
a bit to produce. I ^ink Mlc- 
romegas Jasper is very good, 
but I teaj it wil be^ or already 



has been, overshadowed by 
gam^ like Jer S&t Witty and 
Monty. Moie tt's ctfferertt in 
many respects, however, and 
deserves to do well. Anothec 
favounte is the remarhai>le 
S*oo' Daze from Hie- 
roepherep which I like because 
it is reati^c, anarchistic, and 
puts school where it bekM^gs - 
m perspective. Most of my 
other current faves hiave 
^ready been mefiboned in 
passing. 

Company trends over this 
year tiave been al over the 
plac^. We have witnessed ttie 
disappearanra of imagine, 
Hat>brt arxi Camell to name 
some of the bi^er ones Rat^ 
bft. like Imagine, seemed m 
retJospect to survive more on 
liype Itian product, alitvough 
Rabt>it s hype was aimed more 
at the trade than itie pulrtCp 
which was their huge mistake- 
they |ust could nt see ttial no 
one wanted the rubbish tf^ 
produced for most ot the time 
We have also s^n big bus- 
iness move in wrth names like 
Thom EMI (Creatrve Sparks) 
who. ike Virgin and K-Tel 
made a reaKessment of what 
they were ck>ir>g earlier this 
year. Now Busby has a rival in 
British Telecom s Firebird; the 
overweight and sluggish Atari 
tiave tried hard to br^^k in vuith 
ovefi>ricad versions of their 
mcadB originals, but it all 
seems to be a c^se of loo lilUe 
too late. 

A softwaie house from the 



earliest days who went ouiet 
during the year is QuJckaflvi. 
Their Fred and Snowman 
made some impact but not as 
much as the eartier Aif Affac* 
or Bugaboo. Concemtrmtifng 
rather more on cotivefslons c3 
the C64, (hey were bought out 
by Argus Press in the middle of 
me year, and I can't heip won- 
dering wtiether the loss of 
indeperKjeoce to a corporate 
giant won't lead to a greater 
sense of apathy. I hope rYoi. 
The Anl Attack tdlow up from 
Sandy White. Zombie Zombie 
was. T thought, a trit of a dis- 
appointment. 

One of the Mggest suc> 
cesses has to be Ocean who 
started out as Spectrum 
Software K b\A through ciever 
marketing policies, litiking 
themselv^ to a distributor, 
buyif^g in Artierican software 
for ccm/erston and carehil con- 
trol d product, fiave made 
themselves ttie tnie suc- 
cessors to the image imagine 
tned to create As if to seal that 
image. Ocean recently 
acquired the Imagine title. But 
what ttas also been mcsX 
enoourao^ is that throughout 
84, fww and often small 
software houses have 
emerged. fightir>g hard arK) 
with often excellent product. 
They still tonn ttie badcbor^e of 
this business arxJ he^> maJce it 
an worthwhile. 




14 CfiASHChnstmas Special 







m 

Ik 




GIFT FROM THE CODS 

The Power of Destiny" 

• Number 1 Blockbuster from the "MEGA TEAM' 
I Spectacular arcade - adventure played in a multitude of ways 

and at many different levels. 
Watch the Secrets of the Labyrinth unfold as our Hero. ORESTES, tests his skill 

against the power of COD and man. 
• Stunning animated graphics take you beyond time , . . 

into the FIFTH DIMENSION . 

"INTELLIGENT" controls allow ORESTES to perform an astonishing repertoire 
of feats from the command of joystick or keyboard. 
► Discover the key to "ACAMEMNOns puzzle, through the power of 

Intrigue and Illusion! 



Ocean Sdiware e aimlaUe froni sttec[«J brmctici d WOOtMlOtmi. W U.SMl I H , jflfr T 



USKVS Humbclowf COMST 



Spectrum Shopj jnd 3il! good sohwwe de.ikrv Tmdc enqMifiC* wiettofne 




KNIGHT 
LORE 

Producer: Ultiinite 
Memory required; 4dK 
FMaH pdce: £9.95 
Language: ffiftchtne cod# 
Autfior: Hi* ACQ Team 



It must tMi ChrfstmasI You can 
tell by the fact that Ultimate has 
relaased two games simuttafh 
aoualy, Und&rwuflde is the fol- 
low up to SabfB Wait and 
Knight Lore is Uie follow up to 
Und&rwufidB. Uttimaie have 
been dever enough to ensure 
th« both new feiaasas are 
very dlffefent from each ottiar 
in playing style and game dee^ 
ign. Wt>erea3 Abe Amc , Sabre 
Wulf and UnderwurfdB aU pla- 
yed virtth 3D Kmght Lore useB a 
very solkl 3D perspeclira in 
¥rf>lCT tfie 3D plays an Inrport- 
ant part spatiaify CHmCiSM 

Our bfave hero, Sabreman, Is 
bacl< again, prth helmet stil 
firmly in place, txjfl noH roving 
the torturous rooms and pass- 
agiways of Knight Lore casUe 
to seek Hie the old ctying wiz^ 
ard, who is the only person 
wtw £^n tree him from the 
deadlv curse (appearifig in a 
pttfi helmet all w.^ pertmps)? 
me old wiiard, wtioee raine is 
Melkhior, Is like many another 
QMW wizMTd - he sets traps 
and tests to en^re that ati wno 
reach N are worthy. 
Knight Uyre is played ofver forty 
ctay9 and forty n^hts At tt^ 
bate of tiie acreen a moon and 
sun symbol Indicate the ttmie. 
8y day Satxeman is himself, 
but at night he change into a 
werewult In either condition he 
is vulnerable to siMlden death 
The rooms are populated with 
all manner of spiky death and 
large stone btocks. in some 
respects Krrighr U>rB resemb- 
les a 3D piat^HUi gamep where 
Ihe trick in each room is to dis- 
cover the route and the meth- 
(Kte bf whfch you can reach the 
various chamis which must be 
collected without being impa- 
led on a spike, cmshed by a 
faltirvg ball chain or zapped by a 
poKergeist, Sometimes the 
ghottes are useful in heipir^ 
yoy to nvove at>out, but pank: 
sets In as the days run outp for 
after ttw fortieth day. Sabre- 

16 CRASH Dirtstmas Special 




o*i>i-me f*jmaf,e„pto,^ 



man, if he tails in his que^, wilt 
forever become a werewulf . 
Scoring is by time taken, perc- 
e^ige otqj^ completed and 
ctwifia ooilected with an ovec * 
atl rating offered. As in Uridm- 
wurfde there is no Halt of 
Fame, lai^aly due to the size of 
thepn^ram. 



• 'SabfafnaDlsback,biitlhi8 

time lie's badk In gtorious 30. 
Kr7ight Lore Is simdlar In appea- 
rance 10 ^vatoft. but the graph- 
k^ are botder. With that sakJ 
Hnighi Lomresembtes nothing 
Ive played before. It is fun, 
addJcbve.but to siim up In one 



woiTd It's Brilfianrtl From whrt I 
can gatf>er from ttie rhyming 
instnic^tiofts you've got to {hA 
together a potion to stop your- 
self From tyming into a werew- 
ulf - arri one of the excellent 
touotos in the game b the tra* 
nsformetkon from man io beaA 
and back again. After a whfle t 
tijnk I pfefenred the werewutt. 
The people at Uttimate ot>viou- 
sty have devbus minds beca- 
use you only have to kxk at 
some of the rooms to see bam 
wic*;ed they are . On the whole ( 
found Knight LoresNghtiy more 



i^m mgM prwrttr^g Werowiif 



plMsing than UndBrwurid^ for 
two reasons; tts slightly easisf 
and tt s not as frustfating Once 
again Ultimaie have comns up 
wWi the goods, Knight Lo/ e is 
sheer pertedkMi, get this tor 
Christmas - yc»u def1nliel{y 
won t regret it ' 

• rs ntea no see t/ffimale 
depart /nam the ^A/emsn 
m&me in KntaMjom This ga me 
is tot&ily dimrmt and originai 
frlMTT anything ffiey'^/e dOfW 
befere - in my apinpon ifs ttm 
best game they ftave j^sf pro- 
duced. Grphks are in 3D end 
use the new technique ot 
mmking, so thar the mo\^ing 
chBTBctBm do rrot flicker at all 
whm tfiBy pass in fmnt of 



I 




l§f 



KNIGHT LORE 



othw ots^cts, erJdf ority one 
colouf is i^ed p@r semm^ 
which a^ids any attribute 
pmbferm, 7hi$ 000$ no! rn^m 
8%M the game to tacking in coh 
Qfj^ however, since each scr- 
eon has its own cotour Some 
ot the graf^ics are distinct 
orfginm, quite different to any- 
tfiijSg pfoduced on the Spect- 
rum ftetom. The graphics are 
m detaihd; imaginative, large 
and wi^l drawn, ft is impossi- 
ble to compfEin about them. 
There is just such a tot to see 
and to eMphre, H's incredible 
and a/oyto pfey This gariw m 
tun of mystery in the sense of 
why do you turn mto a werew- 
utt at night!? Wh&t do any of 
^e objects do^isa questK>n t 
t^eep asking mysett - just fun 
comUng mmn. Good use of 
soured has been nmde with 
somie nice tunes. To sum Hfts 
game up f do ffiink that this is 
pfobabty the tmstgame yet 
produced for the Spectrum 
and it seems to me to be peff* 




UNDER- 
WURLDE 



ProdiK^er: Uttimat* 
Memory required: 4dK 
Retail prica: £9.i5 
Lar^uagd: machln* code 
Auttwr Ttw ACG Tflam 



UlUmalt have an uncanny 
knack of rdeasing gamw jM8l 
too tate to be ab*a to do Hmn 
iu^ice in a maview becauajs the 
mi^e ^ uayaHy on iti way to 
'bad. Bui with Undemurtde 
and Knight Lore thiy were lata 
enough thai Ihay miwad 9m 
lait iiiua anooamar and tt^ 
gwva mough ttma lor ttia onel 
As is well known by S^kb 
Widfars. Underwurfde Is tha 
second 'Sabmrafi'gMW. bui 
ajgumanls that Sabre Wuff 
^Aras Atic Ataa witfi graarary, 
hold little water wrth (he rww 
wfia^ Tha pars^ctim Is 
mfar ant lor a start - you vlaw 
ttia oama j^om die audianc^^ 



act kt every sm^e^ t honestly 
caul SOB fmw any real Impro- 
vement can be made on this- 
weft worth the £70. ' 

• 'Any UfttmaJa game is a 
thrill to unpack and toad, bat 
wrth Knight Lore ttiay have 
aurpassed tharr^salvea. Tha 
3D graphics are 30 axdting to 
saa that tha fingers ara inatan* 
tty rtd^ing to gat at the keys A 
noval Innovation here is the 
optkon to salact what is cal^ 
dirKtiona] cotrd as wall as tha 
keys Of joystid^ functkMTs. This 
acids a4gm directional movem- 
orrt to Sabreman. which is very 
useful in the tight cxmrines of 
tti^ 3D screen. Th^ 3D ttsalt is 
axcailant, wittt marvelkiua 
drawing of tha walls and ohar- 
actars, and Ultimata have used 
ttia hkSdan vtaw hJaa very cnie^ 
lly. so that a hint may tie given 
ot something nasty crouching 
bahifid a stairway - but you re 
r>evar sure until rt's too iata 
The most has been wrung from 



the situation, for eMampto, 
Wocfcs may move on their mm, 
sometimes they are canriad by 
ghosts, sometimes they sink 
when yc«j land on iham, somet- 
Imea Ihay vai^ish to raveaJ 
deadly sptkes beneath The 
animation is terrific from the 
smallest detail right through to 
Sab^ew^J^fman hTmsetf, Knight 
Lore has that meqical i^rigr^di- 
enl whk:h makes rt exdting to 
p(ay and watdh, and keeps you 
on trie edge of yoyr seat wtlh 
anxiety. fTS SIMPLY A 
GREAT GAME/ 



COMMENTS 

Control kayi: aHamate keys 
on tha bonom row for Jetl'right, 
any keys on ttra second row 
for forward, any key on the 
third mw for jump, any key on 
tha top row for picit upb'drop 
Joyalkk: Kempston. AGF, 
Protek. SindaJr2 
Keyboard play: very 



reeponsive. plenty of options 

for ibnple oontrd 

Uie of colour: eKcetlent 

Qraphlca; excdiertt 30» 

marvelloys design and 

imagjfiatlon 

Sound: temfk; 

Skill ievele: 1 

Uvea: 4 

Scraena: not known, but 

loacte 

Special faetureii ftlmatlon, 

wtiKih allows you todo almoal 

anythir>g with tha otifects in 

ttia game 

(toneral ratlr^: an 

OUMMKifig game at the price. 



Use erf computer 93% 

Graphics 97% 

Ptayablllty 97% 

Getting atarlad 90% 

Addlcfclve qualities 96% 

V«liM for iTKHwy 93% 

Ovtrall M% 



UNDERWURLDE 




view of a stage (wtiloh maskeo 
mapping rather harder l), 
alttiougn aJI the locatkina dk;> 
toglcalty connea 10 make a 
maastva ma^, aeemlfi^ 
blggar even than the one bi 
Sai»re W£ir/r. BiJt one of the 
prfndpat changes, end Itta first 
time that Ultimate have 



S^vingmg m f^n? tJnrf.-r^. 



empicyedthe dtvfoe, is tfiaf 

the naattes do not kW ygtioff - 
mey hjatgetintheway. It is 
pomMe lb dto howsvef I 

We've becwne quite 



ao^u^omad by now to 
Ultimate's obtique Inlay cardi 
wtitch {^ ttte ftavour but no 
ptoytng hirrts for the game. 
OiK» again H'a a c^jmon of 

CRASH OiristrnM Special 17 



UNDERWURLDE 




toa. movBfnefit and detefl ii 
superb - to ii Uie sound^ It is 
importanf lo get a iwaapon m 
soon as you itifi torlymstoly 
tNere (8 the md bybfate gun, 
cslheiwlie vou can gtf heith 
nned Mmenng terriBe by the 
nasties. The ftusfrrtton tetfel in 
ihls game it plUhed about 
r^ht an<f ttitefe Ii ataeyi ple- 
nty ooing oft I Htod Ihe rapee 
ara Die JaiDe oaaeoiA btAblBa 
- tra ptoyftm ilalrta ■» ite 
11^ keep Uimaia vnl tfiead 
in the iicada tWMe. 




ttftind out the tioivs, wtienie 
afidwfiatlorB, Saljf#(Twi» 
reooyrAiably ttie saffw 
ittnpki hero Irorn the pfwloys ' 

Kfn^t |Mi tiebnet Inl&cl frofn 
enoQUrttara in the lyngle, 
haaenlared the UndenAWlde 
Id aeek tie DeM m hii Lair 
andf ef oouvae^ ate way out. . . 
Aa wMiSa^ Wuff, wmtkig te 
b^petoentaoe of locaflona 
vnaad and a aoofe 
ascumulated by nasttee fcMled 
^^dobfecbcolectad. 

cfunciSM 

• n looks as If the hyper load 
ie here lo stay t^ecausa even 
Uftimafe is using one new Ii 
ttw nomn^ Spe^bum loading 
ayalem deadv yF?d0fww]h!te is 
otrtaMy no Atfc AtBC part 
Itviee - Wb a lotaMy cMiglnal 

Cm that will keep you efilBira- 
tcy aoaa. From ivhat I can 
make oytrnxn ttia wual Uhim- 
att irialrticilorii al you h«ve to 
do is IfrKf your way out -elmple 
enough, no! There are quite a 
law mifiga lo ninoar afio naip 
you, auch aa the pMhon of 
UHJmate naattes. But these 
don'l MH, they juat make you 
bounce about ail owr tf>e plaoe 
and Ihe only way IVe found to 
dta is to (alt a long way Thtsksa 
mb^ed betoaiikg t^ecau^ when 
you aeem lo be itohg wai, you 
itoMaloLSomoimeait 
rciaiv ImDOaabla to 
finish a gftma whefi ymi warit 

IB CRASH Christmas SpttciaJ 



yofTi? ipoiiiiwiy ine mam. 

dandng and now )umpbiQ 5 
reman M Hm naates m 
underwuride lecm to h 



lo. UnderwufM^ must take up 
every avaMalile byte becauae 
iha mmm laao h ugi and comp- 
I Ie9c« aomettihiQ 9iat became 
appaiwit aAar playifig tor twe- 
nty mlnules and only SOTrino a 
peltry 10! Ultl>mate's gr^^lcs 
need no exptanatton. but an 
dty^Amm ib&m mining ks tie 
Hall of Fame (but Im sure the 
spare byes from Wm went loa 
good cause}, UMmali tiave 
come lip witf) amstfief exoellefn 
game leatuiing tfie waldng, 
■ (Sab- 
the 
have 
scared him so much he*s 
shfUfik - or has he jMst had a 
wash to get rkj of tfie juiigile 
stink)? UndermnldB ia mote 
wontty of the to ould prtoatag 
than was Sabm Wuf, so there 
shoukJnl be any omnplatnti 
about thai i especlaBy Hked 
the volcanic bubbles on wtikii 
you tan stand and ride, and the 
eagles whidi carry you ail over 
the plooe^ This Is more of an 
admniyre than Sadne Wutt 
ever waa. ao you wW have lo 
pick up oartaJn obfeob lo gel 
past cmtmn creaiufee. If you 
don1 ilka the OWiKT 
layout, then you will be dteapp- 
ointed to learn mat h"s been 
used again on this gamiep but I 
fourKJ it easier to uaie than a 
joystick taacauaa you dont 
need downi riMioh nd Vie 'Up 
key ki atoo used i^jump. You 
fuel cwit taS with mis game. 



and if piracy mems m end to 
ganws ie this, tfien Diracy's 
not realy worth it, is irr 

• 'UrKierwurlde is dsAiffefW 
UHtmBt&'s bmt game yef. n 
has saper sound Bni$ gmph- 
ics, as ymi wouW expect fmm 
ACG, {Am (m fBf as / car? tmM M 
this stme} an even mom com- 
ptex pmfifV araa thmi SW. 
Mdvi^ mtHmd from Jevel to 
teve/ by skUthilty pmpSng up 
anti down tfie scmmi m made 
tven h§ni0f bv ttm wmious 
GmmOna arid HBfpim knock- 
ing yoii Hying in mid jump, 
Sabfemm hm lO^I hb s¥mid 
biain^»^hecan ime ^ailous 
ditfaimit weapons for severaf 
attfefwt puFpoiam ai^cft m 
gartmg pmf Itm gcMfCttsrn. t 
matfy aniofBd playing Unda^ 
wurtde md hi^ty mcommend 
It to everywie, atthough ifs a 
shame aoouf tf)e high pwe, ' 

• At a Rrsl gianGe, Sabf eman 
resembles Bugaboo the Ilea. 
if s that atMelJc leap thai does 
tt. This tiu^ furnp oofrtbined 
wtlh the fad that ttie nartes 
don1 kin but do hinder^makss 
ptayitng Undmwmlde quito a 
different awp ari a n ce from any- 
thing Ulimate hove done bef- 
ore - and It boka as though it 
shodd lead to s^^me MOM^ 
ngl^ high aoorea sinoe nfflng 
ttia gramlna ta anantfal If you 
are to keep your preoarious 
liflltfioe! As usualp Ihe graph- 



COMMENTS 

Control Itttyt: CVWtefi/iight 
n/E upond jump/down. Tlo 
flrBjBpo886saod WBopon, 
CAPS lo V drop frfNTi nop9, B 
to SPACE pick i^i^drop t 



Jpytitolt: Ksnpslon, AQf « 

Protok. Sinclair 2 
my tw rd pigpwfy 
ffMppmhfo, aWrouQh tfic 
QvfeHTccOTiak^i6i lt 

awkwafd, aA ttwee rwlewera 
agreed thai thiey work qtite 
wetf in this partlioular flttma 
Uaa of eokiuri aacalanl 
QraplliCS. IflfQO, WIKNJtfl, ttSf 

and d«iaMwl •«Koerient 
SoiHMt: vwy good. aithouQh M 
to fMkklMf ifiotijf to 'oonticf 



SWlll«vtto:l 
Llvw:6 

ScrMaw; uNtnown «t this 
time, but \oBds\ 
Sp«cM iMtur^t; hyper load 
G«o*raJ r«tlfiio:axeoMnt 



Um Of computor d9% 

Gnphics 8S% 

PtayabUity 99% 

Getttng started 90% 

Addictlva qualttlea 99% 

V«lu« for money 66% 

Ovsrall 02% 



DON'T LOOK UR^-i:^ 







:A^> 



O^ ^ '^i 



S^^ 






48K SPECTRUM 1 



IT'S SUPER MUTT! 



Watch Super Mutt wing his way 
to the Iste of Dogs to rescue his 
chum. He'll need your help to 
lead him through his fantastic 
adventure, so pad round to your 
local shop, a nd collar you r dea ler. 
If he's out of stock let us know • 
we'll bite himi 





Silversoft Ltd.. London House, 271/275 King Street. London W6 9LZ 01-748 4125 



mm 



ffff 



ll' t ■ I J 1 



Cr^« ''flV 



_UJ__>J 






J^w . 



I 




'.• }: ■'' -V. V*jS-m «■ I* 



l*|-|-l*|l 



li-^ !■■=■« ll 



20 CRASH Christmas Special 



I 



£n«rf V 




i:fi«rvy 



CHAIf? 



Pi * * if 




«n*r*'y 



Prizes galore in our brill contest overleaf. 



IN OUR SILVERSOFT 
(- COMPETITION 



The new UNICOM MODEM has been described a5 a 
'wonderful product'. Retailing at a mere £49.95. it 
looks set to outstrip rival models right from the start. It 
features auto-redlal, auto baud-rale scan, auto- 
answer, full duplex and half duptex operation and 
connects up to anything with an RS232 or 423 serial 
imerface. At the moment operating software is only 
available for the BBC home computer, but very soon 
alt the maior computers should be catered for The 
UNtCOM MODEM is not yet available on the market, 
but CRASH in association with SILVERSOFT has one 
to award to the winner of our joint competition. 



Here 8 wttat to do. State in not more than 25 words why you would like to win the UMtCOM MODEM. 



entries to: 

StLVERSOFT COMPETfTfOH, 

CBASH MAGAZINB. PO BOX W, LUDLOW. 

SHROPSHIRE SY8 WB 

to arrive no later than first post January 18 1985 



I would like to win the UNICOM MODEM because 



The prizes: 



K I win one d Itie consolation prizes, the game 
I would like is ^ 



Name 



Address 



Poetoode 



1st: The overall winner will receive a UNiCOM MODEM 

and a complete set of SILVERSOFT games for the 
Spectrum past, present and future! This means not 
only will you receive all their software currently avail- 



able, but also all the software they have yet to produce. 
On the previous two pages you will have seen the 
entire screen layout of SILVERSOFTs newest game. 



On the previous two pages you will have seen the 
entire screen layout of SILVERSOFTs newest game. 
SUPERMUTT, just one of many that the winner will 



receive. 



2nd: One lucky runner up will also receive all the SIL* 

VERSOFT software past, present and future. 



Also, there are 100 consolation prizes of one item of 
SILVERSOFT software, together with a free poster. 
You can name the game of your choice, but the post- 
ers are standard. 



22 CRASH Christmas Special 





fii 



r ' - fnonm Ui b^ chQOsiffg me b&Si -e/rei ifOi>i tne 
. ic/ ^^^^ ^^ ^^fi as pubtisnir.g tr 1*11 tend the wfllBr£l2 

worth ot sotlwBm ot Ijis or her choim (ttcan b& fwoc&ssviws 
as iQfig ci^ ifwy come wrthm the f ?2i / ve ha(J w grovBl O'? 
imfi0mt ktw^ fothe edtfor tof rhr^ so yOutibener bcgf^Wtuf' 

Send yotif fetwrs fo Lloyd Mangram. CRASH F^mm. PO 
Sajf Iflp Ludtow, ShmpBhtm S YS iDB. i c.t. r : /LrromiSi 
Qf^Qt yThmg Hi^t corm&s m b&caus^ sp^ce is pr Bcmus ^ i 'm fold j 
iwt til do my b0^t 



W§ bMO 1 buty montti^ mhm Mrttli Ctiri^tmu iooming imd 
Kevin, Iherww fTi#fnbef of the CRASH team, daihtm] 
•rcHind Intefviewlrvp every on^d for the artlde In this mue 
about how CRASH len t put together (never believe 
evefytfiing you re#d in pctnt)! A» uiual (t hn alfto been 
enolnif heertbreahlng month of trying to decide who gett 
prints. But I think there is a niee apinkling ot differofit 
letiaf s here, iinciuding one from Ireiend end one frOfn 
Yugostsvifl. There «re *f$o two emu*! nfl letter*, one which 
i« Etiockingly ebuiive abotrt all of us el CRASH (at leeat 1 
think tt'a moickJng} and one which just goet to ihow how 
much gAmee have thecoma a part of dally life, t picked thie 
one for letter of the month. . , 



SOFTWARE KALEIOOSC 




rtloyd, 

One <tay, wtul« waldng 6Qwn 
the Foad with my frtofio 
JASPER thaanlivolo* 
from a darit aitey calling my 
name. PSSST, FREO . tio 
vDicawtiiapBfod. Ilumad 
round 10 see the 
TRASHMAN, DENIS wrho as 
usual aoukl only be seen 
■mmOQH THE DniNKJNQ 
3USS He tad tM»en up lo 
his ANTICS and was to^ 
PI-EYEO. We qufch^ went 
over to Hie BARMY 
BUflGERS reMumm whera 
we asked Kenneth to looK 
after him unN help ardvod. 
I tried 10 axdhiln to Denis to 
wail with KENTIU^ {Itiink 
about it) ombulence arrivad. 
twt by tres time he was 
almosit In THE HOUSE OF 
THE LIVING DEAD* We 
continued on our way down 
QLADEAUEV but soon 
Sound oursfllvef in • 
CONFONTRATIONwith 



MUGSY the URBAN 
UPSTART from the tectory 
down the roed. AUTOMANIA 
Inc. He was buMt liHe ttie 
HUtJ( and had Gi)vlou9ly 
m«lei FACTORY 
BREAKOUT or escaped 
(ram the LOONY ZOO. He 
was detMMy no HOearr 
imoreUke FRANK N. 
STEIN), alttiough he was a 
bitST0NK€RS,8Siie 
aiwaye tFBveied on a POGO 



We both stood 
SPELLBOUND, not quite 

knowbig wtiaa would ballpen 
n«KL Sudderihr Jroni 
nowhere. PAT THE 
POSTMAN in Ms flMper 
THRUSTA van puled up 
elongs^and toMueto 
JUMP Jn . We ran towarda 
him. and with MUGSY 
baltind ttte OEATHCHASE 
was on, Wi linalty made it 
into tire van, and wWh a 
lEELtE we aped off al 



FULL THROTTLE W» left a 

furious MUGSY behind, and 
InNsritgehetnedto 
CHUCKIEEGealoi^van. 
butm iaaad . 

OurHERO'lexdelmedto 
Pat, He smiled nnodaaity, 
alwaiys eagr to consider 
hlmadif DE FEHD A ol ihe 
poaoa. Pat dropped ib off 
ouiane me ikiiimiiiit eno wv 
wMchedhimZZOOMolt 
lowwdi BEACH HEAD. We 
want Into the altop and said 
helo to Alan itie Chemist -or 
ALCHEMIST for short We 
told him all about MUGSY. 
and he prom^ml that his 
bfolhef Rommel would gal 
tilm back We thanked him 
heeftily. looking forward to 
ftOWMEL S RB/ENGE. 
Ouliida^wM snowing, and 
Just at t aiepped out a mge 
wet SNOWiMLL went 
SPLAT! rtght In my Itee J 
looked up If} see someone 
laughing and JUMPMQ, 



'JACKr I Stwuted ararity. hJ 
came over and Hai Ike J 
giving him a good PUNCHY,^ 
but as he was only at the aga 
whara lie was BUT hawing the 
enos a BEES expliinod to 
him. I TRIAD to be nk». He 
was dressed as a SPECIAL 
AGENT because he had 
etwwft tacied httriself as 
aomaihlng dt a SHERLOCK 
HOLMES Today t am usir^ 
my CODE NAME MAT he 
explakiiad, and saM that ha 
had a MESSAGE FROM 
ANDROMEDA, my Slalar; I 
was to tHjy tier 4 rtice bio 
GOLDEN APPLE, a jar of 
APPLE JAM and a 
mB^imef tram MR WiMPY. 
What a GREEDY GULCH, I 
thought to m^Mif. but dd 
wtwt she said. I Inaly made 
it to itia naw ai q aw H after 
what had seemed like the 
QUEST FOR THE HOLY 
QRAJL. I asked BfSKX. Iha 
nawsagarTt (who's Garmante 





I 



CRASH Christmas Special 23 





5^ 




If my copy of Graoti vms in 

yet, but abi mpWod: Nein. ' 
(vtrhtctinmns'no'), 
'AHHHri cried. I'M IN 
SHOCK ■ 

'Donlv^rry. stw added- I 
was only kimog'. 
That s m I nmo. i mougtit to 
myself: i typ<^ BRAXX 
BLUPF. Sm doMf¥Qd to be 
pmintrortolaRlFLE 
RANGE for mat 
AUF WIEDERSEMEN PEir 
ahe shoufed. 

Whan I go* home my DOTTY 
staler imrnadiitaly 
Gorriplalriiad of to! fig veiy 
hungry aftar wmitiiig so long 
fDf my f eiy m To maka 
matMfs wotM. my Mufti 



voided me for being sutti a 
iWSCALLlON Jy^lito 
ltoea«wfy SKOOL DA2E I 

thought, making my 
iSCAPE tsaiflMmlQ 
^te*i some WO«LD CUP 
FOOTBALL on the Miy. 
reK64fhfigmyaelt1tiati ' 
an. WORSE THINGS 
HAPPEN AT SEA^ And as I 
sBtHad down with a oofvy of 
my favouitte maga;a^na. I 
raala^mat I could ask fof 
nd paerer happinoaa than a 
montNy dose of CRASH . . 

Ckmiq Smith, Lincoln, 
LifiMlnthira, 



Cra#g i$ obwmusiy a MANiC 
MINER when it comm to 
words, aitfiaf tfraf o/ h^ 
bmm iS^M PSYTftAXX. 
But d^ r C0O him a 
BUGAeOO Of you'd tmtif&T 
MtNeD-OUT. tmcame he'tt 
mUyOuto PUSH OFF stm 
if$ C 12 worth of^ottwBt& fof 
mBBmiAHDlDDUMSt 



RED PERIL 

DearCommke "*** Marchadls 
(TASS), 

Listef) readers, you are in dire 
pehl. You ara at the mercy of 
infiltratora The staff at 
CRASH afa not what they 
seiam - they are raaHy a txindi 
ofCommynist *''* mooMfSf 
For example, iak@ a low at 
Lloyd Fasdsi Budytsoy" 
Maiigram. Phnting all these 
amgympants is his way of 
attempting to sp^rt the nation. 
Uliimaiely(Bic-LM)ha 
in^lecKte to convert the 
oomputar world to his 
dastardly ways: Communlsmf 
Derek Brewster Is malty a 
mambaf of the Sec:rei ^^^►m. 
out to engage the irite re$t and 
CO-Operatiori Of $oftware 
houses andconvert them all 
into Reds Poor oW 
Micromega have already 
tahan the bait; as did 
Quicksilva and Naptuna 
before them. 

I pass on a waming: anyone 
lo«(ing Jasper must 
jfTvnedflately grab theif ear 
pkigs and Jam them m the 
appropriate holes, becau^se 
there is, in fad. a Soviet 
braJn-washir>g message 
trarwnHledf aomhf loTiowed 
by a 'oonvefiiOT" routine 
Keyboard t>ashafV and 
toysticic-wrencheca beware f 
me Frey txotherm are worse 
than the Kray twins They are 
Ihe heavy- mob of ih& Soviet 
•py ring. Oli. peaceful artist by 
day, can easily be 

24 CRASH Christinas Special 




tmnslormed int a raging 
animal it his temper ts aroused 
(you should m& his pio in 
issue 2 - boy does he look 
meaji^) Franco is the cafmer 
of the two. and deposits his 
stee! teeth in a magrvetic field 
at n>ght His 9ti trame and 40in 
chest serves him well, but he 
has a brain the size of a 
peanut Needless to say, 
Matthew and Chris are 
commies as wall, after being 
subjacted to eiKleftS 
brain-waaliingjxograms on 
their r>ow-red Spectrums. 
To lop It all I have reliable 
avkdenoa (ttianks Mr Blunt} 
that Roger Kaan is a Ooubfe 
Agefit. 

The dniy person to remain 
unaffected by this is dear old 
Denise (subs), She is free 



from all these bad Influences 
only because she locks 
hersell in the ladies room in 
order to paint her toenails, 
undisturoed^ Yors 
demoaaljcally, 
SartojltSin9hJohBl{1$K 
Hayat, Mlddteaeii. 

rm asiDnished by the 
fnghtening accuracy of your 
secret inetliQBnce in matters 
r&tating to CRASH On only 
two pomt^ are you in error 
Fimty, tamnot^ bulfyboy, as 
anyone will tBlfyou, and 
SBOondiy dear old Denme' 
doesn't haim any toGn$M$ to 
paint -so there. 
LM 

STICK m 

Dear Lloyd, 

Witri reference to John J 
Tapper's totter, I would just 
like to s^ Ifiat i hate the way 
he makes out every Spectrum 
owner to &e a snob wrtth a rich 
daddy, I went to work tor two 
or three weeks t^fore I could 
afford to buy my 48 K, so stick 
ft Ixxed a no unemployed. 
Anthony Grasso, Purley, 
Surrey. 

Now, now* . . 



EARLY AURM 

DearUoyd, 
After reading about 
PYfamarama in CRASH I 
thought oh gtmtt at last a 
chaHanaiiig gaira^ and a 
CRASH Smash too. So I 
rustled out and bought a copy, 
but alas when l got tott^ 
shops 1 found thai tt>o game 
cost C? 95 and not £6.95 as 
advaftised in your magazlfie. I 
bon^owed tt^ ejdra money 
from my kind, generous m§ 
bf other (with a grovel, gfovel, 
pretty plese], paid up and 
defied honie. I had visiorks of 
hours ol tun spent trying 
desperately to soive'the 
puttie However, after just 12 
Hours I had solved tt and 
awakened Wally. Cant the 
programmers do better than 
this? 

D. Blaabery, Skatmersdalep 
Lanca, 

Ob¥iouBty you're atow 
averme mt^t^encB tor fhese 
arcade flames -perhaps you 
should tuin your attentfon to 
adyentur^ andteavB realty 
simpte garrma ISte 
Pyjamarama fy idiots tike 
CRASH raviowers. 



ROniN PIRATES 

Dear Crash. 

Thank you very much (or your 
article on the Piracy Dossier, it 
made very interesting readirig, 
I was particularly interested in 
Itw reaction to question 3 
about commeraal piracy. It 
strikes me ttiat home copiers 
are simply passing the tnick of 
the damage iMJir^ done to the 
software industry onto the 
shoulders of the commercial 
pjrales White I would not 
OGndor>e commercial piracy in 
am way r tie fact fcs that 
altfiouffi H to morally worse 
flmn home copying, the latter 
Is far more widespread and 
therefore far more damaging. 
Relativety few people own 
commercial ly pirated 
programs, wtiiie of all ttie 
pecirie I know with horn* 
computers most have large 
cd lections ol home oopied 
prog rams ^ 

Another popular excuse for 
copying software is that the 

fames are just too expensive, 
agree that most of us can't 
splash out SIX or seven 
pounds evey day; or M a 
trolley in John Menzies at 
nsgular inten/als; but someone 
mio has bought a computer 
for £1 30 can't Bxaofy be 
penniless, can they'? I think 
we've had the reason for the 
price of software very 
gr^hk^ly explained to i^ by 
Shahid Ahmad (Ih© Piracy 
Dopier), but even \\ the 
maiority of games were to 
come down in price (unlikely) 
would home oopyir>g cease? 1 
doubt it. The general train of 
thought seems to be: if you 
can copy a game lof nofr i ng . 
why spend money? Even if it 
is only a couple of quid 
Matthew Banner man, 
Shrawabyry, Shrofiahlrt, 

Dmptta afgyme#7fe from 
soJmve houses fh6t 
commercial p^fBcy is on irte 
incraase, aspactaHy through 
Hhgat libraries' -^tegaf in the 
seme mm tftey do not gain 
(he m^anttal permission of the 
SQ^ara /mouses to fomr tapes 
- them can be littte doubt thet 
ft is the home cof^mg which 
iathemalbena The answer 
semii 16 be hyperioadfng 
t&chniques. aitiwugh rrtayare 
not entirety proof. On the other 
hand, they are Biso 
inconvenient to th& genuine 
txiyerwhen the tapes won f 
toad property 



|7: 



I 





RIP OFF COVERS 

Having recentfy received back 
la&ua No.4 and fi9)€d in the 
qy^tionnaire art piracy, I 
OBcided to write an»d axpmis 
my views on the subject 
) am a pirate and I ha v@ 1 97 
Hleoai copies in my oollaciion 
and only two originals. My 
friends and I have a smail 
Cfcrtte of about fjve contacts, 
and wh^riever a ne^ ^ame 
ccrms in they each distribute 
copies to heir friends, thus 
beginning the software piratM 
family tree . The main 
reassons why I pirate are: 1 . 
Gaffim are far too eKp^naiva 
Z. The description on the Irriay 
OOTtfs IS nearly atways wrooQ. 
When I pick up a new game I 
eicpect to see a screen photo 
ant what the game \b really 
about, hi s it fast? does ft have 
smooth graphics? is ii as bad 
as2axiran by Starzor>@? Most 
new games are startir>g to do 
the above. 

A shop in our town that sells 
software now has an iUegal 
library club where you pay £1 
for life membership and oan 
Choose a qame to keep 
overnight for 50p I am a 
member and can add new 
games to my collection very 
quiotdy. 

New prograrm are getljng 
hard to copy rv>w a$ a iot of 

SamM are becoming 
eadless arrd won t load into 
any copy prog rams 
Automanfa has proved to be 
the hardest to copy because ft 
runs at twice the normal 
speed. 

1 am writing th is I otter as a 
desperate plea to software 
firms to put their pnc^ down. 
A pirate> UK. 

/ gaf jlfta tMHng that your pleM 
w^Si havBlf;^b99 t^it more 
pBfSUMBhm ffiBn this, deaf 



Pkate {UK}, since it SBBms to 
amacfr mom of selfishness 
than gBftuif\0 cofiCBm. The 
next reacfer has b slightly 
diffGFent view of the situuikm. . 



CASTING STONES. .. 

Dear Sir. 

I have just finished reading 
your November issue, whic^ I 
found to be rather interesting. 
All was well until ! read the 
Piracy Dossier on page 1 30: to 
arKl behold a letter from a Mr 
Shahid Ahmad of LorKJon 
hJWl , prodaimJng to ttie wodd 
that Mr Paul Watts is scum, 
stupid and should be 
castrated. He also states mai 
Mr Watts is lull of " " (dooa 
this mean he swallowed four 
micro-drives?). Seriously 
though. I woutd Nice to a^ 
Shahid Ahmad a few 
questions: Have you ever 

a) Travelled on a bus or train 
wtltiout a llckat? 

b) Fare dodged comipletety? 
G) Photocopied an article of 
Interest? 

d) Entered a df>efna through 
the Are exit? 

e) Evaded paying tax on car or 
undisclosed earnings? 

f) Copied records or cassett^ra 
and^or lent them to friends? 

g) Copied or taped arty TV 
prog ram me or ott^er 
pm-recorded vteteo cassette 
and/or lent them to frierKis? 
AMhough some of these 
questions may not aeam 
entirely relevant, they alL in 
one way or anotf>©f , involve 
fraud 11 Mr Ahmad can 
honesltv answer no' to every 
one of tnem, then fair enough, 
castigate Mr Watts t>y all 
means; but It, on the other 
hand, he has mlrir^ed upon 
any of the above then let him 
hieed the words of a very 
tamoiiS cha who onca said 
iomething like: Let he who is 



wtttwxjt sin cast the first stone' 
I would like to make it dear 
tfiat t rveither defend nor 
condemn th worcte or attitude 
of Mr Watts, and that I have 
f>ever yet met anyone wtio is 
perfect in every way . 
Frank Marrftl, Buckhurtt 
HIIK Easai. 

/ was once told by somBonB 
that ft IS impoBBibl& to be 
fiertectty good, bo if you want 
to be pertfecf. bBmg perfec^y 
bad is thB onty thmg m do. 
Sounds like a paradise recipe 
fof pirates. Serious fytt^ugh, 
casting stones may be a good 
moral argumwit, but it fs 
somewhat impracticat ff 
youfB rBBfly frying to cope 
with this sortofsitua^n^ The 
sad truth i5r thai no one 
actuBity minds ripping off 
someone else, but they hate 
someone else ripping ff^em 
off. 

TOO EXPEKSIVE? 

DeafUoyd, 

I WDUkl jusi like to say ttiat I 
am sick to deriiiof foaders 
cotriptainang about ttta pr^of 
Spectrum software. The 
English computer buffs' (ust 
don't know how lucky they are 
wW* aie price of games over 
there. Here in Duo in the 
cheapest and worsi games 
self at around £7.50^ while the 
average retail price is about 
£lOor£ll. The more 
exper^aive gams such as The 
Hobbit arxJ Sherk)ck Hotmes 
seJl for about E22! How many 
Irish Spectrum owners would 
be only too delighted to pay £6 
lor agamel 

The Spectrum itsetf exists 
£200 for the 48K version. 
£1 60 for H>e 1 6K verSKln. 
MiCTodrive an<i Interface 1 
^ each sell for £70. while a 
Kempston joystick and 
interface sells for £40, CR^H 



teetf costs an of £1.41! 
Not only do the software arvd 
peripherais cost a lot more, 
but they a! so take a lot longer 
i to get here, and as the stocks 
are ver/ limited they are 
usually sold out after only a 
couple of days. Certain 
at^ftwaf e products or hafdUMi 
Itarrs never even appear ow 
hem. CRASH usually takeo 
about a week to arnve. 
So In fulurSp when 
complaining about things in 
England, just remember how 
bad ii is here on the Emerakl 
Isle! 

Michael Wood, Ballabrldge, 
Dublin. 

W&ti you're not the first Irish 
pemon to camptain about the 
pricm of ff^ings over there, 
inctudirfg CRAH. StitI youm 
luckier I think than a wntBr 
later on from Yugoslavia who 
finds ft hard to get anyffiing 
imported urUms Mis a 
preset. The next wrrter 
dtsmgrBBs ove/ the cost of 
software. . . 
LM 

UNDERPHfCEO 

Dear Lord Mangram of 
Ludfow. 

My view or> software ts that It 
is GROSSLY 

UNDERPRICEDI Mow ptease 
calm down ; dool send the Wt 
squad found (I won't be ink I 
wantto add thai I aiT! not rfa^, 
and rror Is my father; neittier 
am I the sales director of a 
software company I am m tact 
none other than a 
poverty*strieken student from 
the Trent Pofyiechnic in 
Nottir^ham, and I m clever 
erx)ugri to realise that a good 
many of the top garr^es now on 
the martlet are worth a great 
deal more than we pay for 
them 

If we assume that the average 
gan^ In an arcade oosti tOp, 



^7 ^ 




s 



I 



CRASH Christmas special 25 




then a gsme which oo^s £6 
ih<xjfd give at bast sixty goes. 
Any gam© ftmt provides more 
te very good vaJue tor money. 
Looking thmugh thB CRASH 
hotline chart I notice Xtmi 
•everal of the top games 
eome under this category. For 
e^an^a, I don t know how 
many times 1 ve played Manjc 
Miner, tHJl it musi be ovor 250. 
I ateo reckon We played Atfc 
AtBC 200 times , Lun&r Jetn^m 
15O.Cftuci(iefgg120. 
Afvadia 11 0. Jef Ssi WiOy 1 00 
eteelc. 

When aie people goinq lo ttop 
moaning about high pfices 
arxJ start realisina what good 
value for money mey are 
oetOng? 

Jtomn Unwell, Beeiton* 
Ikxttlngham* 




RECORD BREAKER 

Dear Lloyd. 

After reading the CRASH 
review of Oa/ey^'s 
Oeca«hlm(l«pjie No 10)p I 
ItiOMiMiwNXildwrT^ 
about W 0<lci event 1t\at 
ln^^peined te me when I first 
thought thegame in August. I 
was irming my first attempt at 
the long Jump when I landed 
drecaly wih my back level to 
the Nna. I oormidered this to be 
a pretty foebiO effort, bul to my 
diabght Ihe scxxesman 
meawfBd out tb© i^st ol the 
pit and then the track, giving 
me a jump of 253 meters* Is 
this an Olympiic achievernent? 
J LAng stone. Solihull, West 
Hkl[«nd«. 

Ato -it's a prBtty f&eWe effort, . 
Ui 




SLOW GAMES 

Dear CRASH. 
This letter contains severaJ 
points which i feel I have to 
make The first and probably 
the moal ^mpoftan1 concerns 
the length of time that 
software from ottier pans of 
Britain takes to reach 
Scotland This is perhaps not 
so bad when it is just an 
ordinary piece of software you 
want, but when it s a piece ol 
compettion software rt is 
atteriy infuriating 
This happened to me with The 
K^t Trilogy (from Incentive). I 
had comptated the first two 
ports in record lime (Mr of 
Ketin only one week. T at 
V r an ^n ufsdfer 24 hours) SO I 
thought I had a great chance 
of winnifig the video. I waited 
patientty and eventually saw 
an ad in a m^a^zine 
announcing the releasa as 
S4Vitniber 1 9 (th# official 
firiease date) of the third part i 
thought I wouid wart until t1 
WES on sale in the shops 
raiher than order it through the 
poet which atways seems to 
take so k)no. iUas. rt took nine 
dayt iAer being released to 
arhve in only one of all the 
ahops in Glasgow that sock 
oomputer software! And rt 
wasn 1 even one of the giants 
like John Menzies or Vm 
Smith - instead it was humble 
HMV, t>ener known lor tt^ir 
records than for frieir software. 
I was disgusted to say the 
least. I had searched for that 
game every day aJI over 
Glasgow a nd spent rrxxe flian 
£3 on bus fares in the process. 
All hiopes I had of wim^ng tfie 
compeiitkin were dashed 
because nine days is a great 
deal of compvJar lime to iose. 
Surely^tabtMrtoeflUK 



CRASH readers who wait 
peitontty' for news, 
competitions etc . all software 
houses could arrange to have 
their games in the shops in 
advance of the raJease date to 
save frustrating hours (and 
days) being wasted. 
Paul A. McCu«ker, Glaagow, 
Scotland. 

Distribution of gamm 
BOttware is stUI in its irrfancy 
and there are a tew thmgs to 
sort out before games reach 
Bverywhere af oftcB. f ver? in 
the hefd of magazines, things 
dor?? arrive everywherB in the 
countrf at th0 $Bm& tim& ft$ 
oertainiy an area which riBBdS 
sorrte fufihBf attBntion, 6t/f it 
has less to do wiS} ihe 
software houses than it dOBB 
with distrubut^f^ and reiait. 
LM 



FROGGER 

Respected SJf, 
Afewrrxxitt^a^ I read a 
small piece in CmASH about a 
software company exporting 
Spectrum software to France 
ft's about time too I say! I went 
to France last year and 
happened to take my 
Sp«K:trum with me - probably 
Mepy but I m bring it back. 1 
lliyed with someor>e I know in 
Paris and ran Lunar Jefmanfor 
him He just freaked out guys, 
he really did! He couldn t 
believe it. and was bowted 
over t>y the standard of some 
of the other games t showed 
him (which were slightty 
easier). Sacre Bleu!' he sakS. 
A ifttle later he sftowed me h«s 
own computer; a 
state-of-the-art MSX machine 
raleasad a few months 
previously in France, the 



Thomson T07. h struck me as 
the worst computer I had ever 
set eyw upon It had flash 
moulding. tiuittHn light pen, 
cassette- style plug-in ROM* 
atKHJt half K menrory and a 
Bask: to give Sir Clive an 
apoplexy 

The Basic ilseif was plug-in 
and the instructions oh i! were 
laughable It this IS 
fepfWenlative of max 1 don*t 
thhk Spectrum owners rreed 
worry about software being 
overwhelmed by drivel. H Ft 
txlngs in nothar sector of the 
put>nc - the Green Wetlie 
Brigade - then they can fit 
MSX hn their Vdvo eslatea 
and feed tt>em to the labradors 
foralll care I really don't think 
there's any need to worry. 
By the way p wfial does MSX 
stand for? Mighty Silly 
Xpectations. perhaps. . . 
M. Chatfleld, Gosport, 
Hants, 

The arguments over MSX wHi 
no doubt make forsorm 
interesling reading over the 
ne^fewtnot^ths. Ourt>0foved 
Editor with brackets tmtweeo 
hts nanJBS has atr&ady stirred 
up a tew souls (o write in 
^feeing and d^agreeing. 
The next whter has a few 
more tfpfriffS to say, . . 



LISTEN HERE ROG. . . 

Oear Crash, 

(To be read to a background 
of Land of Hope and Gtory): 
Throughout history we, the 
SritfSh, have been invaded 
twice and left alone twice by 
fDrfitgn armies Over tlie past 
70 years or so we have held 
our starkdards hjgh on tfie 
timmma of Europe. We 
hav® ftxjght in the air. on flio 
larNJ and on the seas, and our 
t>rave soldiers have died in 
vast numbers to uphold 
litierty , free speech arvl the 
nghl to buy foreign computers 
Now believe it or rK>i. we live in 
a capitahst eooMyp first 
pioneered t>y the Ameri<^fcns, 
We live under the so-called 
shadow of ttieiir economic fist 
And yet we, on this picklly iittle 
island are still undef the 
impression tha British is beat, 
forget the rest Don't 
misunderstand me Im not 
tieing unpatriotic or anything. 
I'm just sayirvg that it we're to 
make a suo^ss of ecor^omk: 
cooperation we've got to buy 
our computers elsewhere as 
well as sell tham elsa wtiara. 
Some may say that tt>e 
Japanese are castrating our 
industry, butthat s probably 



26 CRASH Christmas Special 



\ 



only because we dtdnt do It to 
them tifsl. 

Here com^ ihe MSX!" cftos 
Rogef Kaan. editor of Bmrtatn's 
most influefitiat Spectrum 
mfigazine. let s tall svafyone 
how ttrribifl It is so that we 
Bftb¥ifillgDe>nbyy4ng 
Specbpums, which am three 
years old. have one diannel 
^ound arvd r&ally amazing 
games r 

NOW listen hem Rag - dont 
you think you re preaching to 
tie oonverted? I know as we4l 
as you do that the Specfrum is 
ultra-ace. Bui so is the 
Amsirad and the Einstein and. 
whatier you tike ft or noL the 
MSX Being a piog rammer fof 
both the MSX andthe 
Spectrum I would like to put 
the record straight: the Brtiish 
I MSX has a 64Krr^mofy, 
; irxiluding the screen memory ^ 
therefore makir>g it 1 6K larger 
than the Spectrum. Despite 
the groans from 
what s-his- name at design 
Design. \ have to inform yoy 
that saaen addressing on ttie 
MSX is faster and a hell of a 
k^ easier in WC than (he 
Spectnjm. Hence: faster 
graphics. 

You Dbvtously feel threatened 
bY the MSX. Never fear - Im 
sure that i million Spectrum 
owneiB are't suddenly going to 
gert up ofke rriorntng and dump 
tfielr machines down the kx>l 
NMther are the software 
houses going to give up, FOf 
rnstance. all the comparYles 
I've spoken to are fKA doing 
naw MSX stuff "just 
converting old Spacy games. 
That s t>ecause Spectrum - 
money. 

So don t wony chaps. MSX is 
no hassle. It's a pood standard 
t^ Basic, But M/C capabilities 
(minys ^ound) are almost the 
same Conclusion: the 
Spectrum is tin Basic ar>d 
sound) worse. But MSX is on 



the way And if tie Yanks 
threw it out. so may we. 
Chariea Cotmn, Totteridge, 
London. 

/ rather got the impression 
that the Vanta d^dnt fftjrow 
MSX out - they matiB it cfear it 
woufdntbealhwedtN. Stilt, if 
noff}ing efce, the arm&i of the 
MSX machines has thrown 
some urgently needed tight 
on the fe$B&r capabitities of 
the Spectrum, which ham 
b^en highlighted by (he 
recant feSease ot ma 
Spec&um . . 



deliver the goods. 
I totally agree that we need a 
Spectaim upgiade NOW. not 
in a years time wh6>n the 
spectrum could well bte dead 
due to the MSX invasion Now 
that th^ Plus has been 
launched it can only be hoped 
that this upgrade wiit be m the 
form of an eMpansion pack to 
fit ttie new model I don't think 
three channel sound, a sprite 
chip and something to enable 
more than two ctilours per 
attribute is a k^t to ask for; after 
all. Sinclair graced us with 
Interface 2 which, when it 



r 




PLUSSERANDPIUSSER 

Dear Uoyd, 

No doubt flavour of the month 
at tf>e moment Is tfie new 
keyboard, and 
Tile I cpji ofwpreiea the 
efforts of Sindiair Raeeamh to 
provide spednjm owners wtth 
a decant keytx>ard all I can 
say is that weve wailed long 
enough for it! We ve been 
crying out for a new otficiar 
keytioard for owf a year now 
arYd it just goM to show how 
long It lakes tor Sindaif to 



came out, was of no use lo 
anyone, usang non-standard 
joystick keys arKi ROM 
cartridges at £ 1 5 a time which 
were mo«fy of 1 SK games 
that only ta^e a minute to toad 
from cassette anyway, so why 
bo4ief buying them? 

Even now, a year later, 
Sinciak sW Kasnl released 
my new ROM cartridge 
gaines v^ich are availaible 
onJyonROM People just 
won't pay £1 5 for games On 
ROM which Bhiey bought six 
mionth& ago on easselte for £6. 



So after gh/ing us Interface 2 
whic^ no one really needed 
(there were p<eniy of other 
Kjy stick Jnteriaces availatrte at 
the time), how about giving us 
the upgrade that the Spectrum 
could well do with if H is lo 
survive in he ganves machine 
market? Let s also hope that 
Parker make a ROM cartridge 
interface realty worth having. 
T. Hefiry, Sunderland, Tyne 
and Wear 

Here, Were ' Ler's make it sow? 

Sinciair! 

LM 



MtSSING PRIZE 

Dear Uoyd. 

I would like to infonn CRASH 
readers of fiow much troubis I 
had getting my priae from 
Ck^mput&rand Vtd&o Games ^ 
I was top scxxer in the 7th 
Emptre oompetBon, and duly 
ififomied ttTemaoazine of wtial 
Hw^^e cassettes I would like. 
After eagerly awaitim their 
arrival for a ooupie ormonths I 
decided to pt^ne and find out 
wf>ai tmd happened to them. I 
was assured that they w^efe on 
thetr way This went on for 
^uite a while, so evemuatly, 
tired of receiving the same 
okj excuse every time I rtfiB, I 
spoke to the asstetai^ edtar 
and he said he would have 
them sent on tome. I ended 
up talking to him on several 
occasions, and each time it 
was Ihe same proceed u re: 
name, addre^. which tapes 
do you want. etc. In the end t 
got tired of this and icM him 
fiat I knew very well he had no 
Intontton of ending me the 
tapes and that I would contact 
my father's sdiator At this he 
sounded very shocked, but 
the games arrived a few days 
later 
Scatter about sbt monthi (and 




CRASH Christmas Special 27 





a large letaplxme MA IflMiy 
got what was nghtfulry mine. 
Bui 1 worKiar how many othCN' 
wmnars. less persistent than 
mysalf , have b&&n cJ^aatdd 
out of their pnios? 
N. Fnruqut. Presto n, Imnem. 

You sound ss though you 
were very unfOftun&te in this 
mEtter. fm surpmed to hem 
H, atOioui^ icm undBmtand 
thstfth^pp^m (i'm $um we 
efen't l}l^meless mttrer), 
Competttions are fun to have 
in me magazine, but mey 
somenmm cmite ^sofU a/ 
Bdminfstm^Ye pmbf^mB, 
BBpeciatfy as the tesufts are 
CPitBted sofrjstime before 
&endmg out pnie^ Tht^, 
mt(fBdon top of ifner-oftto^ 
comrmmicalions cmr feBd (D 
such cifcumstmcBs. Itgow 
to show that persevermce 



£Jf' 



a certain (>aw>n (wtio shal 
remain nameless) has noi yet 
progr^sed beyond level two. 
The only plus point in ttiis 
tragic stoy is that this same 
person managed to eomplete 
Aijc Atac in only four dayS- 
This boosted his oonfidenee 
quite a bit, and soon 
afterwards he want on to 
compleie level three of P$ssr 
and level five ol Jet Pec- 
Ltayd. you and the OKcetlent 
magazine you work lor are the 
institute $ last hope Even as I 
write a 1 5 year old inmate is 
chewiffg at the straps of hts 
eighth conwcutive strait-)acket 
in a frenjsW gtempt to get a* 
his 48K Sp^ctnjin and flush it 
down the toilet. Assistance is 
urgentJy required. 
Doctor Steve. Royiton. 
Herts. 



^Ptel 


m 




1 








1 







<j' 



sheer entertammenl and 
readabSity your magazine 
probably beati the lot (exc^t 
tor Micro Adventurer - oopsf 
Oldn1 mean to say that). 



afoot to redo the Gufde im 
possibly a quanerty t}as^. 
One problem is rhar the Guide 
wa$ gBtttng so fortg ft was 
cosmg too much on 




FUNNY FARM 

Dwr Lloyd. 

I «fi a mefnber of a very 
•peciaj institution. Heaters for 
those of us who have gone 
insane because we can t get 
Btaggenng(y high scores on 
opmputer games. We are the 
people who manage to scof e 
tt^ least number of pointo 
possible on gam^i such as 
Coohe . Pssst end Jef Pac to 
name but a few. 
I am writing because we 
desperate iy need help. 
Readers shouid send in any 
Hpe they may have for the 
above games Help on Cookto 
is the rriost important t^ectuiA 

28 CRASH Ctiri«tmas SpedaJ 



if ffrink the onty remedy is to 
take tour •^"s after every 
meal, take the buti by ttie 
horns and turn into a 
microdrive^ 
LM 



NEVER TOO OLD 

Dear Lloyd. 

I suppc^e at 36 I'm a bit old to 
be readi^n^ your magazine, but 
must admit that I look forward 
to eacfi new tssue as eagerly 
as I used to await the 
oomputer des. Perhaps IVe 
never wown up. but I feel I 
ei^ CRASH as much as any 
of your yoor^ger reader. 
I could be criiiical (as sonw 
are) of the spellir^ mistakes^ 
but I don t care, because for 



However, there is one thing 
my wffe and I miss in the ne^ 
CRASH, and that's the 
categorisations and potted 
reviews of Spectrum software 
that you included in the first 
couple of issues - we still 
OOfWtently refer tO Ihem 
So we hope ultimatefy that 
you II be Kssuing eitt^r a 
S4ipp(ement to your Chhstmas 
^ue, or maybe an annual wtlh 
c^>ndensed versions of all your 
reviews to date under the 
appfopriaie headings. 
MellTalbott, Bromsgrove, 

/ dbn t think 36 rs too old Bt alt 
- the tact that I remember the 
first ever Beatles record 
coming out has r^thing to do 
i^jtf? iV There hava bBan p/sns 



rypeset^g. Over the past few 
issues there have been a 
number of Changes made to 
the way CRASH ts typeset, 
which make^ it less expensive 
to produce, so I guess the 
Guide Wift be on again b&fore 
much tonger. 
LM 



ARTISTIC LICENCE? 

DnrCmhp 

Holpl to a tong suffering Mum 
of a oomputer-crazy son 
allowed to air her views in your 
efioeMenf magazine? 
It has always bugged me (see^ 
Im pickir^ up tfieVson 
already) tnat many computer 
games, tapes era ttM# 
&i«)porting adwwIMng 



J 



matariaJ \wm el^xMite 
tttustralions whkSh bear Irttile Of 
nc r&s0mt>lanc6 to the achial 
graphics wtilch app^r on ire 

I m sure thai in any other 
product this woukf oonstitLrt© 
misrspres&nlabon. ITle 
illusiraton on a box d 
ohoooiata cakes or a packat of 
fish fingers, lor example, rs 
afways malistic, so why do the 
oompyter firms strata tha point 
to such an axlartl? 
Soma may say rt's artistic 
Ucenoe - 1 pr afar to call it a big 
corHiick. 

Hfi D. E* ScnHti, PrMtoUp 
LariFCS. 

Stftxrg words Mrs. Smith! I 
must say, the pfctures on 
packBts of fish fingefs and the 
tike always SBem far bfgger, 
nicer and more BuccutBnt 
kH/kmg tf?a^ 0e actual 
cof}ter}ts of the packet. Stllh 
H'b a vaiid point - but pBrhaps 
fBu should compare 
wmmter gamos mgre with 
ftoofe ffian tish fingars - 
packaging is part of thtd f\m, 
OB hng as it cfoasn 1 exceed 
the dfCiBt&B of honesty. 





CON SERVATORY ROOF 

DearLtoyd, 

I think you dasarva a pay haa. 
TTiara, now ttiat IVe grabbed 
your attention I would liice to 
say Itiat J. D/a letter about 
the lag>afKlary JShV bugs 
should start a fkKxl of leitafs 
on the subject {a pay rise, 
suraly?) 

There certainly seems to hava 
been an amazing lack of 
complaints in computer mai^ 
on this m^ga-blundef by 
Sottware Pro|ects Well Lloyd, 
please let everyone krx>w that 
SP are definite^ not having a 
competition wHh the final 
Miner Willy game at 
Christmas fam a Miner Willy 
and SP fan, but i am disgusted 
by tjhli dedsjon. 



A friand and I were obsessed 
with the pame and asmpetftion 
vrtien A (ifst came oyi. During 
our Easiw holidays we spent 
ovw a wBiSk playing the game 
until six or seven in the 
momir^. and than resuming 
playing after so^ne sleap, W© 
atso ama&sed huge phoKm 
bills by phoning Liverpool ttme 
after tfma to am : ^Has it been 
won yet?' or How do you do 
Conservatory Roof? The 
replies, of course, were 
always No and There la a 
way'. 

Our probtems were 
complicated by the fact that a 
certain magazine in Ludtow 
had given us the impression 
that there were 64 screens in 
the game. Hence we 
concentrated all our efforts on 
firKfing those other four b'*"y 



screens ■ [please note - 
CRASH readers now also talk 
in aslerteka), I reckon you 
must have corrected this BUG 
in your JSW review, but we 
were unable to get this issue. 
We were eventuailv put right 
after a temble weoK trying to 
get through the windows in 
Of\ the Roof (among ottier 
thinss) by SP themselves. 
Iteturalty. we were not too 
pleased wrth your mag, 
ahfrough rt is Still the best for 
quality andvalue). I wonder rf 
otfier readers were led astray 
by your error? 

Kevin Graham, Fort WHilemp 
Scotland. 

Jet Set Willy has certainiy 
been a sore pomt with many 
readefs in defence ot our 
pfe¥iQw of fte game, iw m^re 



1 




CRASH Qiristmas Special 29 






txify able to ao by what we 
were also tcJa at me outeBl 
md ihBiB certainty wasn t 
Ume to VBfity e^^^rythtng 
before th0 re^t review was 
written -othenviseour 
reviewers might hB^^ won Jih© 
prize? What it Bit adds uptojs 
that the competition was a bit 
sUty f^ the Circumstances - 
but t know for a fact that the 
miBy cards had been printed 
months before the game ivas 
released, ^ndofco^rsB they 
contained tt^e conypetftion 
det&its which had been 
planned without any 
ImowfedgB of the bugs in the 
progrem. 
LM 

BEYOND THE CUBTAIN 

D«trCrasheFB! 
Vefv lately we r©c«ivod your 
package oomaining CRASH 
bsues from June, July and 
Ssptember. l think it s nol 
necMMiy to mtmion that now. 
@ftor Juit three days of cifdirtg, 
those magazir>©s look old 
pnough to get ir>to the 
museum of corrspLrter 
magazines! Veahf It's really a 
magazine. The kids are noi m 
good at English, but they were 
realiy screaming Bbou\ Ihe 
pictures in it TTim^ days and H 
passed over 20 nands. The 
same thing happer^ with 
Your Computer ttiree months 
ego. and now our teacher 
-teader of the computer 
section in our school - is 
SUtocribed to Your CorrjputBr. 
fkm one of us has decidtMl to 
suljscribe (or CRASH, and 
when he has finished the 
counti ng of his E you will have 
a customef in Yugoslavia, 
rd like to thank you ve^y much 
fof sending us your examples 
and \ want to tnfomi you about 
the situation in my coyntry so 
you can know what is going on 
nare. 
We're just really starting. 




There af e ocily a few micros 
produced here wtiich can be 
used at hom^. But with 
software it's quit© different 
We are so f^r away from 
Britain; whk:^ now is the 
hotlpBt place for oompulefs 
(arDerthearrfvelafMSX 
espec^tly), but a M of 



programs come our way. by 
some strange wa^, so we 
can le^l it's a lot of software 
available. Software makers in 
Yugoslavia are far ahead rn 
Haiifcware, and the things we 
do are. or can be. on a level 
with alS other software wrtteim 
in ttie world . Hem in our dub 



If you have anything you would like to say to other readers 
about software, hardware, programmers, piracy, whether 
praise or complaint or whether if s just somethina you want 
to get off your chest; write to LLOYD MANGRAM, CRASH 
FORUM, PO BOX 10, LUDLOW, SHROPSHIRE SY8 1DB. 
Please do not enclose any mail order forms or payments in 
Forum letters as these do not get processed the minute they 
come in, which may result in delays of your mail order 
I deliveries. 

30 CRASH Christmas Speciai 



section studio we have now 
gathered some real talents in 
atl stutis of art and 
prog ramming. We do graphics 
thai are much like those in 
Mugsy. some animation, 
caioe we make movies too. 
Vefy doseiy we done a tiite for 
a TV usj no some 
Supertoad-roirtlnee aad of 
course our own capat>ilitie$. 
Now we have an idea of 
creating computer muse, yes. 
totally computer music. 
Spoctrums. Commodores arid 
a little Casio &02-P could 
realty mak a good noise. This 
mmk will be done with no 
aooilillcs. just wires. So. for a 
vocal we need a ifiing that we 
just cannot gel - a speech 
synthesiser. We will be 
pleesad rf you can help m get 
a speech synthesiser. A 
CURRAH is not so e^qwrtsive, 
tHjt it needs to be a pr^esenf 
from some foreign firm before 
II can t>e legally imported. 
So if you can heEp us. serxJ il 
as a present to us and we wMJ 
draw you back with some 
ottief things We can offer you 
our drawir^s to use in your 
rr^a^azine wKh our pefmission. 
I ttvnk they are worth thai 
money. And it you agree, we 
wiil send you some onginals of 
them Please hejp us! Thanks 
for everything you ve done for 
us and best wishes for 
CflASH from the people of 
NoviSad. 

Dngefi Stieglltz, Novi Sad, 
Yugoslavia 

After such (ovely compliment 
how car} we refuse- tH haw to 
see whether the contingency 
Forum budget wilt stretch to a 
speech unit tor you! (tt H£ 

Wett this fol of letters has fitted 
up ftro whole fftes on my word 
processor ^so I guess that$ d 
for Iftis issue - end indeed far 
this year See you in J 985^ 
Lloyd Mangrsm 





Yek, on^ 1 he good wf II ^uivlrve in 
ihlsihe &iperstar sfthdCs me}, first sum game 
"Roknd's Rdl ltAC€". Veh. I U^red^nred 
yom h€lp. Rat Fans- lo 
wind my way through the 
underground Rodeni 
world of Udders, lifts, 
bdfs dftd A\\ tctnds of a^epy crdwHes. where 
I must And the keys !o hw my hirry htentfc. I cam wair lo use 
my glu^ gun Stitk em down' on those monster 
cntanlcs. Set you on youi so««n, hom ymii niddly. ictmabte m« 

. . . Roknd Rat. Superstar 





The fun of the fair and 
the fuiy of Kong! Now you 
can know what it feels like 
to be a dodgem, only this 
tune you're running up and 
down the Roller Coaster 
dodgtng the cars, giant biuis 
and jumping springs. But the 
tun has only just begun!.,, wait 
until the hiry starts! The wacky Waltzer and the 2any Swinging Gym are 
enough to unhinge the sanest hin fair fanatic. Ktrng Strikes Back is all 
good fun but it's bound to bring out the bad in youj 



Ugh! The Hunch is 
back! Toyr favourite bell 
ringer, the alUcanquefing 
Quasimodo, swings into 
action on another 
breaihtAking, action- packed 
eietravaganza Set the befe 
sounding ami Esmerelda's 
heart poynding wttti QuasV^ 
astounding derring dos and 
athletic antics. The bats in the 
bdfiy may send you bonkers but 
be AS boW as brass, give yourself a 
pac on the hump and, WATCH 
THAT FIREBALL! , . , phewl . . , 
Our hero's revenge te a 
winner all the w^. yes. it's 
deftntte^ for you , . hoo! 





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See the pack- see the screen- see the game. 
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Here's a sneak look at three of the NEW games: 




ZULU 




MR. FREEZE 



GOLD DIGGER 



Wyatt Hunter has Iravelled Ihrough 
time to the c«filra Of an ancient Iribgl 
maze, seeking a priceless ca>llection o( 
100 2ylu masks. Armed with a power- 
ful iorce Aeld and lore^A^rned of the 
magic and dangers involved, can our 
intrepki hero sufviv^??? 



OK SfXjrt welcome to down under 
Tlma was when tfiose pesky misers 
weren't chasin^ us around and things 
were a sight easier Drop pin' rocks on 
'em ^11 siow em down some! 



Mr freeze is fa<^id with a real 
challenge. Armad with a flame throwef 
he has to detenu ine a route through 
the fridge and de-ice each of its six 
oompaftmenisL This invotvtsjumpfng 
OMef ice cubes and gaps between the 
sfielves, and avoiding flying food, 
lasers and guardtan rot>ots, ^AhjII 
n#ad all your ckinnlng. timirtg and skill 
to prevent Mr Fr^ej^e from being 
tymad into Ice. B-R-f^-R f 1 1 

Look out for these games in the FIREBIRD sHver range at selected high street stores. 

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^liHih 



BACKPACKERS GUIDE 

ToTtie Universe (Parti) 

Producef: Fantasy Software 
Memory required; 46K 
Retail prloe: £7.50 
Language: machine code 
Author: Bob Hamilton 



Now, at thiks pf03^Tl nrK>meni, 
playftq ttit gwm tt oraduaily 
booivfi^ tippmmt ttm my exp- 
OClMiofifi wBm set too high. 
GrBphic^ a/0 vmy bright, de&K 
ted and imagirmtive, but ncf(b- 
Ing realty s^^rrs to move oitier 
than ihg wraiths, which is e 
great pity k>r this game As 
ima goes by kt would have 
bspn more fun if ihe wraiths 
had developed into more evtl 
and deadly enemies and cha- 
nged from their fluffy look to a 
mofe arggressjve took. As il 



seem to be very well aivimalad 
either I'm sure hts thin pegs 
are the reason why he doesn i 
walk very quickly (probably 
because my are so weak) This 
game has many good points 
aJKt will probatrfy provide many 
hours of enjoyment in strategic 
oall^ capturing, feeding and 
nursing ttiis planet's wterd biJt 
wonderful cf aaluras and taking 
them back to your space caps- 
ule. Otfter than this though , 
there desn t seem to be a gfsat 
deal of addictive qtmtrties. ' 



In collatii^ this review the off- 
ice was full of odd sounding 
comments tike. What's « 
Googly Bird like to 6d?' 
Reply: 'Sleep mostly -wtth H. 
because Fluflele lick everyth- 
ing to death/ 

Tnere was a time when army 
cormrtflrKters were cautioned 
to make sure iha^r men looked 
after their teet property and 
everythir^g e4s^ woutd be okay. 
That was m the days wlwn 
men marched everywhere 
The old caution is a good poin* 
ter to playing Backpackers 
Guide to th^ I/n/vef^e. t)eca- 
use in Pari 1 , your main task is 
to collect a hrt squad of wierd 
aliens who have bseen isolated 
In cages on the Planet of Hxile. 
in order to go up against ttva 
egregious Scarthax who is ttir- 
eatening to pull the Great Phig 
of the Universe. 
Fantasy's favourite hero Ziggy 
is back in the saddle - or to l3e 
more accurate -- in the harness 
of his backpack. The backpack 
Is quJta a marvelbus inventbn 
(see tfte October fesi/e of 
CRASH tor more detaiisf), 
which is (capable of holdlra all 
the vanous wierdc^ that Ziggy 
frees. The prctolem is knowing 
what also to collect to both feed 
^em and keep them happy so 
that tiwy won't die of heartbr- 
aak Of become a meal for 
sofiie other creature. 
To help you kn your nurBemakJ- 
big task is tbe Backpackers 
Guide which is kx^ated on ttie 
leverse skJe of the cassette 
ftfom the actual gaine. This 
colourful device will introduce 
you to the creatures and their 
needs. Ziggy s backpack also 
allows hi tolly about, but it uses 
up nnore energy than walking, 
as does use q( the flamethm- 
wer which deflects the wraiths 
tiat flit about the placet's cave- 
rns. QxTlact with the wrallhs 
also depleles ertergy^ When 
the energy runs too low you will 
be beamed back to the main 
capsule and repair time is 
added cnto your overalt play- 
ing little. This is the interesting 
facet of BackpsckBrs The 
three projected parts must add 

34 CRASH QiriBtmas Special 



THE BflCKPRCKERS &m TO THE UrUVERSE. 



CE]BHilBk.ZN 

mmmmmm 

B RELflTZDN DF THE 
Fti^maUS AND EVEI3 




fpHES^'-UlPfkOB i USER mpuT: f?! 



up to only ttie 24 houre Scart- 

haj< has given the Unfverse 
before he pulls the plug. To 
have any hope of getting thro- 
ugh to complete all three parts 
you must complete part one in 
under 12 hours {real tirne), 
whidi is why something like 
backpack repair time is impor- 
tant. At any time during play 
you can press SYM SH iFT and 
a biue status bOK appears wW) 
scrolling infommtkwi. This Info- 
rms you of amount of backpack 
damage artd interesting details 
like how your creatures are 
doing. 

Backpackars Gufde to the 
UnivarsB Part Of^ is played in 
a giant complex of caverns, a 
large maze, in whk;h keys and 
useful objects oonMitute a 
large adventure afKf strategy 
element 

CRfnasM 

• Having previously seen a 
preview of the program I had 
highwpectations of the gann^. 



Just cms of many lOQloeistE dneom^ 



Stands Backpackars 

seems to lack if> 'acton can- 
ent\ Saying itils* the game 
does not tack conterrt - a vast 
amount o siTaiegy (s needed to 
coltecA at tha creatures OMt of 
tfiis huge maze of caverrts and 
to keep them all alive This 
where tile marvellous Backp- 
ackers Guide comes into its 
own and provkies many hours 
of enjoyment just reading what 
creatures are. what the^ like 
and what they dislike^ ^lggy» 
my favounte super heco sfnoe 
Pyramid was brought out, now 
has this wonderful badcpack - 
it's marvel l^ous what this device 
is capable of doing. When 
Ziggy flies, he moves very qui- 
ckfy. aocualdy and it's van to 
oxitrol him wtien he s doing 
so, WaJking is a different mat« 
ter - why has my favourite 
super hero got sudi spindley 
iftsignificant Te^? They dcm't 



• At last Beckpeotofi hm 
a/T#edp and with it tha even 
tongarawakad returrf of Ziggy. 
Whert you see Backpadfeers 
you wit! sae that it has uutv 
amaiirtg graphics which 
would uenefft iust about any 
gama! Backpackers has the 
ingradiants for a reaity graat 
game, b graphicsinu sound 
though), Ziggy, a t>rHtiant pk^i 
and not forgattktg (he wierd 
and wor^darfut creature 
whk^ inhabit the Caverns of 
EmM, But sadly, the game 
didn*t raity grab me. f dor}i 
know why but I just ofitfnl find 
enough eciion in the genie to 
kaap me compellad mrkmg. 
But with Ihaf said, its stilt an 
enjoyebie program which t'm 
aura many wiU like On the B 
side of the tape is the Guide 
which /mosf say s a dalight to 
read and it provides \ritminfO' 
rma^on on the a>nsan/atk)n of 



^if^. 



tV\e 



Sno 



wtnai}. 



yO 



I* 



fi*T3#j 



^ version of rbe popufar 
ATAfil arrade gome. 



£695 



A fantastic fight to 
the death within your 
own bloodstream! 

Blood & Guts 



A battle to the 

end with the 

deadliest killers 

in the Galaxy! 



availabfe from 



An enchanting Christmas 
game based on 
RAYMOND BRIGCS' best 
selling book and film. 



lecBAs 



QU 



^kTV] 



A Game of strategy that 
will test your mind to 
its limits. 



m^. 



Quicksitva Mail Order, RO. Box 6, Wimbome, Dorset BA21 7PY. 

Tel. (0202) 891744 ^ 




^i(^ 



ASTRONUT 

Producer: Software 

Projects 

Memory required: 48K 

Retail prjca: £5.95 

Language: maehlii# code 

Author: Patrick Richmond 



Underneath one more of Soft- 
ware Pro|©cfs lively Inlay cov- 
ers is a colour entry ootie card 
and THE STORY: After weeks 
of watting the Space F^e^ghter 
has neany reacned your seitl* 
emenl on Planet CS - but disa- 
ster. . . 

A sudden meteor shower has 
devastated th« ship, and rti 
cargo of Resource ilocks has 
been scattered over the ptonet. 
The people have elected you 
to ioumey outside the settlem- 
ent and round up the Blcx^. 
Unfortunately this is unexpio* 
red terrain and tlie^'e are many 
dangers - naty rally; 
In fact mere are 15 varying 




Itou'll two to bwctew on ihig arm 



screens in what fs bastcrily a 
novel ptatform ganrie with very 
simple contrd keys. At the 
base there is the flashing tran- 
sporter base onto which the 
Resource Blocks (three per 
screen) must be pushed. 
These blocks appear in awkw- 



ard places on the screen and 
Astronut mov^ them by push- 
ing against them until they fall 
from or>e level f o Vrm ne^t one 
down and so on until they can 
be pushed onto the ti^ansixKter 
block, at whic^ pmn the r^xt 
one appears somevvhere. Vol- 



CBHow or si^ir^ aulomaiically 
whisk Astronut upwards ai>d 
he may jump down from anv 
height Venous aliens wan 
about caitsing mayhem, but 
Astronut nnay leave behind 
bombs to destroy them, 
altiough the bombs have a 
time delay on mem. 
Any of the 1 S screens may be 
entered at ihB start di a game 
by the seled menu, and each 
of these is qurie diftefent from 
any of ttie cShefS. w*tti its own 
distinct probtemsK 

CRinCtSM 

• 'Astfonift lives up to 
Software Projects' starKterds. 
11 has swm exodient graphics 
(and Imeginatrve ones). The 
geitie Hssff is very plwabte 
and has that m&gical addbllve 
qualHy about it Not MM or 
JSW but It is still excellent (In 
some ways even better, Mke 
the t>igQer, more cdourfyl 
graphics). An-other winner from 
Software Projects. {H's a pity 
the screens don't have names 
- a competition perhaps?' 




Knock knock » wtiit'^ then 



your mtfrmls after you fteve 
freetf thBfn from the^r cBges. I 
mesff how efee would you 
know tftaf you feed Urks on 
lea tags an char (ft a Ffuft^tump 
is a bloodsucker (it tooks quite 
cute actuaity). Overal! Backp- 
ackers is a fun pfogtarri but it 
had ffmitmd ^p&aitor m0. ' 



m ^Hece is a game that will 
appeal to those who enjoy 
adventure and strategy games 
and want an arcade gan>e that 
isn1 too demanding on reacA- 
bn skills It s true that you have 
to be able to avoid the wraiths, 
but the reaJ skill in Backpack' 
em lies in collecting the creatu- 



res from their CMes and disco- 
vering the uselul items thai 
hetp lo keep them alive, as well 
as coping witti the other useful 
objects that heip you in your 
qu^. These include keys 
whidi allow you to witfidraw 
some of the siate<Site!S and sta- 
le^rnrtes and ind shortcuts Ail 
this is done to a background or 
wft and humouf encfmarvell^ 



ous graphics. Sggy flies very 
we(t, although tf>e animation on 
Ns walking abot/t is a (ittle thin. 
With the secorid and thtrd parte 
yet to conrw, Backpackers 
should prove to be a Ug hrt and 
a very Involving game, ' 

COMMENTS 

Control keys: 0/P left/right. 

QtA up/down, bottom row to 

fire {wlwn flyinpa) and to pck 

up {when waJkirig), BREAK to 

beam back to capsule. SYM 

SHIFT for status report 

Joystick: Sinclair 2, Protek. 

AGF, Kempstofi 

Keyboard play; responsh^ 

and wei) laid out 

Use of colour: excellent 

Graphics: exoettent, 

Imaginative and varied 

Sound : none 

Skill tevels: 1 

Lives: N/A 

Screens r not known, but 

bads 

Special features: game on 

side 1 . gukJe on akfe 2 of the 

tape 

General rating: perhaf^ 

lacking on the action sktep 

oOientfia ejwogBji wIwid 

ejcceltefit pfogfSfn. 



Use of computer 


H?% 


Graphics 


87% 


Playabltlty 


81% 


Gfltting started 


90% 


Addictive quamiet 


78% 


Value for money 


80% 


Overall 


83% 



36 CRASH Ctirtstmas Special 




• Aslfomit is one of those 
msgical gan^&s tfiaf fooks 
smpie to ptay and mdeed fiS 
simpte to ptey but difTicutt to 
get thmugh! Th& combinatkm 
ot ¥Q(cano&s which whoosh 
^ov up but onty eta given sec- 
and, and &>& openinglchsing 
pfMttorms that §©f in the way, 
Dttm 5 topping you h^ way up 
when you wmited to go alt the 
way up, mske:s tor a vBry Jolly 
^Bfm with ptertty of addictrv- 
rty. tts a pity that Sottwafe Pro- 
jects forgor all th& instructions 
to tatt you tha keys, theym nai- 
thBf on scraan nor the inlay. 
The Imml salact manu says to 
u&a Z ^id X, which mdicatas 
those kes for left and fight, but 
t spent a whSa fc»QMr?g tor up 
and down before realising 
^ay weren't naadad, and did 
a tot of dying bahra t raaltoed 
you could drop t>omt>S- SUtl, 
m excellent gmua, ' 

Icn you aboifl Asironut is the 
[Ack ol inslTLif^tion W^l! . aft^ 
sorting out the key pfobi#fTii I 
coutd start playing Mtronut 
wtwdh is similar in appearance 
toJSW but plays in a way simi- 
lar to a P&ngo' oarrve. I ouita 
er^joyed piaytra m one wriic^ 
\& boiti chaJIdnwig and fu n and 
has Quite a few screeiis to 



Control keys: not stated 

anywhere, but they are Z0( 

left/right and ENTER to drop 

time bomb 

Joystick: Kempgton 

Keyboard play: ^rery sifnpla, 

and responsive 

Use of colour: excelleni 

Graphics: vary goo<t. varied 

and detaiEed 

Sound: continuous, but wtth 

on/oH facility (0) 

Skill hivela: on^ 1 but aaoh 

screen has a different problem 

Llv«t: 3 

S€roana:l5 

Gefieral rtling: very good to 

BKcefieni addfefivearid 

playabto. 



IM« or ^mpuier 80% 

Graphic* 87% 

Playability 64% 

Gettirtg started 66% 

Addictive qualities 63% 

Value for money 64% 

Overall 81% 



I9(xfgi'i8^i'i9¥gar9iesfhint 
tREATIVB SPARKS 




CRASH Christmas Spectai 37 




LODE 
RUNNER 

Producer: Software 

Pro}«ct» 

Memory requrred: 4aK 

Relailpfi^:E5.95 

Languagd: msclhine code 



Yoii are a highly trainad 
Galactic Commando daep in 
eoemy tenltorv Power hungry 
leaders of the repfdssTve 
Bungaling Empire have stolen 
a fortune in gold from ^e 

Kice tovif»g people, and you 
ve just discovered their 
underground treasury Your 
aim in life is to reower every 
sincf e ifigot. 

So Software Proj describe 
this manjc arcade game with 
over 1 50 ditfefenl screens, and 
a c^^tomtsarig fadtrty lor you to 
dMlQfi your own screens and 
etve them lo tape. 

In fact, what we have here )e 
a mammoch Panic' style game 
where the tradftionaf digging 
function is aduafly an 



important part of the overall 
strategy^ me screens are 
made up of numerous 
variations c€i the theme of bride 
blocks, ladders and bars, with 
the gold stacked here arKi 
there, often in seeminrty 
baoc^ssible places. me 
Bugeling agents swamn all 
ovef ihe place after you. with 
one disadvantage - tney can't 
leap up large blocks -but then, 
neither can you What yoii can 
do is dig holes for them to fall 
into, out of which they spring 
after a few secorMte You can 
dig botes to get at the 
inaocesslble gold too, and the 
longest po^&le fall does not 
kill you oft. 

A nasty touch is that the 
hdes heal themselves after a 
wtiile, and as you cant jump 
out of them like the nasties, 
gel concretised in! This 

Lctor fs important on screens 
where the gdd is deeply buried 
under brick, as you can only 
dig a hole through a layer n 
there is more than oiie block 
mining on the layer alxrve tt. 
Th^ n^eans having to dug out 
several bkxics length in order 
to have the room to dig 
downwards for three or four 




you 
facte 



blocks. Meanwhile they are 
filhng in above you and the 
nasties are leaping down en. 
lop of you. 

Because of the huge 
number oi screens, there are 
75 on one side o( the tape and 
75 on the second side. Access 
to any playing screen is 
avaJiiible - tney don 1 e?(peat 
you to wade through all o4 thmn 
to complete the gamel 



CRmasM 

• 'Lode Runner is evidence 
that you doni need mega 
graphics to make a great 

?ame. lust a pood dea All of 
\B graphics in thts game are 
smaiL one diaracief si?e. and 
dont have a)l sorts of 
deooraicift. But the game Is 
great fun to play. It has a h^h 




POTTY 
PIGEON 



Producer: Gremlin 

GrapNos 

Memory required: 48 K 

Retail price: £6.95 

Langyage: machine code 

Author: S. Hoi ling worth 



This to Gremlin Graphte's 
Spedrum fotlow up to Monfy 
Mol^. OnainaUy rateased flmt 
on the CBM64, Por^ Pigeon 
on die Spectnjm is quite a 
dHlwent game and rn a way 
more complex. The ptgeon 
owrrs a nest in a tree wttn viree 
ever hungry ctiicks in il„ What 
they want is womis and loads 
of inem. Here and there across 
the linked screens there are 
w^ly womis sticking tt>eir sjily 
heifa^ up above grcHjr>d. Potty 



has to go around and cotledi 
them, c^e at a linne, and fly 
them back to the nest. This 
costs him a lot of energy, which 
IS replenished t^ cataiing the 
mayflies, not an easy task as 
they dart about Although if he 
waiks hto energy leveJ also 
goes up 

Ufe wouU be just teo easy 
for Potty if it weren't for those 
little hazards that make life 
interest] no- In this case these 
ii>dude a busy helicopter, snap 
dragons, frogs, angry red 
birds, spiders and cars on the 
road in soma screens (it was 
Vrm cars ttiat made up all of the 
GeM64 vwsion). The land- 
scape itself also poses 
prot)(ems as objects cut up the 
piaying spaoa. forcing Potty to 
Hy dangerousiv dose to some 
hazards. His sole means of 
defence is a natural function 
wMoh pigeons have a habbrt of 
using all the while it stuns the 
nasty for a few moments! 

camcisM 

• 'Monty MotB was hard to 
foUow, Potty Pigeon is a good 
game but not in the super 
leag u e f Generally the g r^Lphk^ 
are good, t>ut are not all that 
e3<ating. The collecting theme 
here b not a new idea - it is 



alr>ght tHJt not very addictive. 
Potty Pigeon will not be 
rememtiered as much aa 
Monty Mote, once a standard 
is set it has to be kept up to. 
Good but uninspiring, ' 

• Potty Pigeon s simffar to 
fte CBM64 vef^fon m name 
onty, Feeding your chicks is no 
msy fmt The tir^l k^d of 
screens are simple but on later 
tovete it realty gets /la/d. The 
gfapriics am good, though 
some of them are a bit smati 
The game ftsetf m extreme fun 
to play and producm many 
thoughts syoh as. We gof to 
do bettef next time ' Potty 
Pigeon is a worthy successor 
to Monty Mo(e and tm sure 
many people w^ff f/ke it 
mormously, Ov^att, n ottws a 
good chi^fenge to games 
pt^tyers of att sorts antf its 
¥mth ha^mg m your 
Christnes stocking, * 

9 'Potfy Pigeon is a novel but 
simple idea, just collecting 
worms, it coukJnl be easier 
(Xuld it. except for a voiding the 
odd helicopter, hawks, tnffids 
and cars - even frogs are 
dangerous, but then again, it's 
all in the every day life of Potty 
the pigeon Soumte thrilling, 
welJ I o^n assure you it gets 
very ttfesome, repeteWve arKl 



36 CRASH Chrtstmas Special 



sirateglc elennent in 
ctetarminirvg the bmt WRy togot 
the goodids and m^m^ < 
found ft both playable and 
addictive, the men, although 
miocpth, rnoved nJciMy, 
mnnrng. jumping, dimtHng and 
swinging in tiue commando 
s4yfe. An odrt and save facility 
li provided so you can invent 
youf own situations when you 
are fed up with the ISOscfBens 
atfoirfy iftare. ■ 

• A gmne to be cfem/ssadf, 
« a prcmbabte first Uiought on 
seeing Lod« Runn^, bec8u$e 
thB gmphioB took smatf and 
oW ImhimBd. But dont &e 
m^ted. A ciosm examination 
mvBalB that tf?a one 
^amct&r-sized mar? Bf& 
beautifutty animated and 
exttBmBly d^Bracterfvf es weft. 
This is another o! those mod- 
em afcede o/tf ?es given anew 
fmse qI life with cfever 
Vrinking, y^ich piles incfdent 
on top of tnodef^t unbti a cum- 
p/efe^ new game emerges 
from it. It's simple game in 
playing concept, but difficutt 
and maffenging in execution, 
fun md hghly addictive, 
xpecf^iy wiff} so many 



screens to ptay* tod© Hunnef 
m a great game. Get iff 

• First impressions ot this 
game ts that it i$ Qroing to be a 
crummy p+atfomi game, 
becaLJse the size of the 
chajacters is Uny. On^ thm\ 
realises fna\ each indlvWiJ«l 
character, though only B pbtels 
high, is quite detajl«l and fairty 
well animated, qutte neat 
kideed, Saidan layout is big, to 
aay lh«r lea«t, mind you . K is an 
a^auli course. Usage of the 
screen space is axcetlerit. 
Whil^ playing the game, it 
becomes apparent that qqI- 
{©ding Q<M ingots rsnt as 9^ 
as it seems. A considerable 
aiTWJnt of totwm6 plannfng is 
needad, espedally on tF>e 
higher screens when there 
seem to be hundreds of stonrt 
troopers after you - amazing^ 
There is someihliig, I dcm t , 
quite know what n 'm, that 
attracted ma 10 this game and i 
think it wit have a long lasting 
app^. Whilst you progress 
through ttve many screens, a 
useful item (known as spare 
lives) is incremented with 
every screen you dear, so that 
on level 5 you have 9 lives , and 




titling, arxJ quite oftan 
fmstrabng. Frustrating for the 
flinp4e fact that for no reason 
whitooever, every now and 
iBBln, you lose you hard- 
eatned worm. Graphics are 
quitt praRy, coloufKjl and 
detailed, but I cani really say 



thai there is a tenible airiount 
acbiBiiy moving and goirra on 
to keep you jnterested They 
say it's the earty bird that gets 
ttie warm, bul sometimes rts 
the edily trind that gets Vm 
twjilet-intheback. ' 



COMMENTS 

Control keya: Q/W eefVright, 

P/L up^dowT!. N 10 SYM SHIFT 

to tire 

Joyttlc^: Kemp^on. Sinclair 

2 

Keyboard play: responsive, 

wefl laict out 

Um of colour: good 

Qraphict: auite good, smooth 

and detailed 

Sound: above averse 

Skill levels: 1 

Uvee: 3 

SefMmtill 

General rating: good, but 

varied opinions from 

ravlewers. 



Utm of cofn p uter 72^^o 

Graphics 77% 

Piayabllity 69% 

Getting started 73^ 

Addictive qualfttes 63% 

Vai ye f or money 63% 

OveFBll 70% 



I can assure you. you reeJIy do 
need 9 lives. A much more 
complete game than lirsi meets 
the eye, but usually these are 
the types that atttaci people 
into buying them, because 
they ^11 tiave such a lorkg 
lasting appeal Another 
ohgina! idea that uses some 
previously (ested graphtcs. m. 
platlonms. ^ 



COMMENTS 

Control keys: userdeFinaWe. 

presei are: Q/Z up/down, l/P 

left/hght, N to dig holes 

Jayandi: Kempstonp Cursor, 

Sinclair 2 

tCeytKMird play: h^ly 

responsive 

Um of i^eur: sinTpie on the 

whoISp but very good 

Qraphica : Small mean as tieM 

and wdl animated 

Sound: not much, but doesn't 

spoil the game 

Skill levali: 1 . but it seems to 

get more dfffiailt as you go 

along 

Ltvest 4 to kick off with 

Screens; 150 

Special featurea: you can 

design your own screen vta 




the editor and save them to 

tape 

General rating: a very good 

geiT>e, with plenty of play ability 

and addictive qualities. 



Use of computef 81 % 

Graphlct 68% 

Ptayabiltty 83% 

GetUfig atarted 84% 

Addlctlva qualitiei 80% 

Value lor money 87% 

Overall 81% 



ADAPTED FOR 16/48 SPECTRUM 
FROM THE POPULAR T.V. SERIES!! 




BLOCK— iuStm IS An ettwnQ quiz garr^ for ONE or TW? players 
and win appeal to ^ wid« range Of 99m and skUts witfi nine levels 
of play against cne ciocK Tne oame tests speeo of recan invoMno 
^ticfpitlan of the question k It unfolds across Olescr«f^n andi 
Soeed of response depei^dant on the feeve^ of play 
mOCK PUSTEM \% SUppllKl wltH tm FIRST ADOmOitlU. Q^^ESTTOW 

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it good computer $nop5 or direct w(tn cheque PO for IS.9S 
inclusive. ACCESS and ViSA ocMrs taken on oar 24 Hour Hotline. 



COMPUSOUND 



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TELEPHONE 10527} 3t439 I314J9 34 Hr. HOTUNE) 



CFtASH Christmas SpeciaJ 39 



THERBO 

Producer: Arcade 

Software 

Memofy required; 4aK 

Retail price: £5-95 

Lar>guage: machine code 

ALrthof ; Bruce Rutherford 



Thefbo (an ^temative to war) 
m Vtm name ol a gome, ^s is 
^aictot^ or foofballV In (act 
Thertx)' stan^ for therms bal- 
iistic ots^t wrtti wf^* tlw 
game is ptayed, as a footbad is 
used in soccer Consequentfy 
Th&fbQ can daJm to ba tha firsi 
computer simulation of a fant- 
asy game -although being a 
fictional game, this do^ not 
look any#ijr>g lUce a slmulatiqn 
in normal teffns , but is i n fad a 
genuine arcade oddity 
ma scenario is sat in the tatter 
part of the 2ls1 century, when 
Amehca and Russia fnitiatly 
proposed Urn concept and fina- 
lised thefules governing the 
playing of the game tt was 
agreed that the winjiers ot the 
conflict gain control of the opp- 
onent s land and that the game 
should be played, for safMy 
reasons, on the moon Whltet 
tie track was cut on the lunar 
sutfaoB, the des-ign of the wea- 
pons was perfected. 
Your opponent i^s ttve compu^ 
ter. and is designate as the 
home team ih^ ThertJO track 
inacKiie senses r&semb^es one 
of ttioee huge pailicle acceter- 
tfon. Thaacwon display looto 
down frm 0*1 top and shows 
both walls of the USl<±. scroliing 
left or hghi [depending on 
yrtiich lem has control Ot the 
thertx)) from the start point to 
the goal mouth The Ihertio 
basicaiky trav/et^ down the cen- 
tre of the track and to gain cont- 
rol oltt. it must be knocked mto 
'touch', or the Side walls of the 
track This is done by firing rhr- 
usteti. These are srtuated at 
ragular iniaifvat$ along the 
sides ofthe track and thay fire a 
bo<lt diagonally upwards or 
dpwnwari:^ When a bolt hits 
tl*e thertx). 1 knocks rt one 
nudofe inttie direction ol fire. 
Each team has contfcl of its 
own thruaters. The team in 
poaaa&siofi of the thert^ may 
uae ttieir thfuaters lo keep the 
thefbo m play, while the oppo- 
rante use theirs to knock it OMt 
of piaiy. 

Another weapon is the Mesmo. 
which deatrore ihe therbc outr- 
ight, bu this function may only 
be used thiee times ^n any 
game. THERE ARE ALSO 




Poiartty Missiles, whk:h home 
In on ttie Itwftio and wil dest- 
roy rt aftef a set period of time 
But it is possibte for the thertxs 
to fire charges at tfie missiies. 
either nega&ve or positive, and 
rf you guess ttre pblartty 0( Ihe 
missile and serd out a charge 
of the oppoeiti polarity, then 
the missHe wfll be destroyed. 
There are two stages to each 
game. In the first stage the 
team (^>ntrolling the therbo 
also have a lank wfiich travels 
along wih tt>e tt^ertx*. The tank 
is u^^ to destroy shapes that 
nrove across the screen by flf- 
ir>9 at them The tank uses tip 
fuel, bu there is a lange drcular 
refuelling ship which moves 
randomly abut the screen, 
Rufwwng the tank over rt will 
replenish fuel in tt>e sea)nd 
stage ttis a straight run (or the 
goal and everythTng except the 
^wtx) disappears. But ttia 
goal will be disallowed if your 
lank has not destroyed a set 
amourrt of shap^ thus scoring 
the necessary points to enter 
the second sta^. 
The garr^ lasts for nine mim>- 
tes inMally, but if you want 
rrKx^e time you can select an 
extra thee minutes once, arid 
only Within the last three nriny- 
t^o4 the game. 

CRfnCISM 

• Therbo (no I haveni cau- 
ght a cold), is the first thing I've 
seen frm Arcade for son^ 
time. AT FIRST I flrought rt was 
I jusi a confusing mbc^ up aort 



I of game After a lot of playing t 
proved myself very wrong irid- 
aad. Glactic foott^all best desc- 
ribes it, 'Wh you trying to protect 
the ball, sofry, tt^rnal ballistk 
object, and score, This aitenu- 
tive to war is a refreeMngly orig- 
inal game which Isecomes add- 
ictive after practice The graph- 
ics are smooth and 'practical, 
any more complax ant Ihey 
may have swarriiM^ltys^tfTie. 
H you gave it a guide play in the 
shops yo would probacy leave 
it there: it ts the sort of game 
that grows on you as your sk^Hs 
improve - a factor which is refl- 
ected in my gettrr^ started' rat- 
ing." 

• This game took me BQGS to 
get tfje hang ol St is very d^ftic- 
utt to gr&sp the idea/ 
ob|ectives The instructions cto 
try to make everythir^ dear 
but rust don t really o^pe with it 
alL The graphics are dear and 
move very quidkly about tt>e 
so'een. Colour is wetl used 
WFth rio apparent attribute prob- 
lems, with the sound being 
mainly spot eltects. but at bast 
meaningM onas I think The- 
rbo may eppea/ to qufte a tew 
peopie and atmough it ^s ditf^^ 
cutt to grasp the idea miSalty, it 
is wetf worth the effort. A good 
game tht ia€ks a tstti0 tor me tn 
addictive quafitias - strange 
and differ errt. ' 



• I suppose it you had to 
describe how to play cricket or 
football in about 500 words to 
people wtK) hi^ tw^eit heard of 
either gajnep you woukj also 
have drfficulty getting all the 
subtleties across A pity, beca- 
use many people miight put 
Therbo down before giving it a 
diance it is a sirmie idea (hat 
is hch in playalMHy ofice the 
obiectives have been thoroug- 
hly urtderstood There are a 



dtauntiru number of keys to 
ptey wrin* but not all of them are 
needed at tfie same time. The 
first stage of each goai run is 
quite chTlenging with a tour dir- 
ectional tank to conuol and fire 
from, keping an eye on Ihe tar- 
gets, tt^ ast depleted fuel sx^>' 
ply and the essential fuel tan- 
ker (whk^ dails about all over 
tt\e place) and watdiir^g out 
ttiai the computer dorani 
knodc yor thertx* out bt ^ay 
while -m Ihl^ IS going q(\. The 
grafrfiics are ckfierent kxjking, 
effective and fast, and the res- 
ult is an original, piayabie and 
ultimately adcfictive game 
which I enjoyed ai¥i will come 
bade to/ 

COMMENTS 

Control keys: 01 A tank 

up^down, Q/P tank left/right 

and0 to fire, W/S fires 

thf\^ten5 up/dowT^. f fires 

polarity missiles. M tor Mesmo 

destruct. and i 2 fires 

posrtjve/negative charge 

Joystick: Kempston. AGF. 

Proiek 

Keyboard play: a tot of keys, 

but sensibly laid out and 

responsive 

Use of colour: not a lot. t>ut 

very well used 

Graphics: smooth, fast ar^l 

different 

Sound; poor to fair. mc^Hy 

spot effects 

Slcl11t6veta:3 

Lives: N/A 

Scraans: scaling 

Ganerai rating: a good 

orlglnaJ game. 



Ua« of computer 6?% 

Graphics 70% 

Playability 79% 

Getting started 58% 

Addictive qualities 74% 

Value for money 75% 

Overall 71% 



40 CRASH Oinstnias Special 





^^ -^ 



Bristles, outrageous graphics, 
dazzling game play, testing quick 
reactions, concentration, logic 
and strategy, it is mtnd [and 
Joy-stkkf boggling n Featurin 
Sex-Select, you can choose el the 
boy or giri painters 

Bristles features different gam 
screens and skill levels for eac 
building. Scramble to paint the 
entire building while avoiding 
the smart Bucket Chucker, Dumb 
Bucket! ^"^ %'"9 Half-Pints, jn. 
' ■ Takethe lifts, climb "^^ 




the stairs and watch out 

for the caretaker's 
daughter; she puts her 
hand prints all over the 
place I Then there's 
prizes, candy canes, 
"invisible paint ". . . 



With fully animated characters, 
|muslc| sound effects, multiple 
screens and beautiful graphics, 
you can't help but want to add 
Bristles to your collection of 
Spectrum games. 



\ 








48 LEVELS 



FgLThe SJnclair Spectrmn 48k £7-95 f S^/ 

state SotL^rnited Business & Technology Centre Bessemer Drive 
STEVENAGE HeitfordshirrSGI 2DX Tel: (0438) 317583 



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Designed e?(Clusively for the ZX 
Speclrum. Protocol 4 brings you game 
control custom KStng in 3 way that no otlior 
intertace does. It can accept aJI oornrnercially 
standard joysticks, including the OuickslK)t tl with 
*rap*d fire' or Trad^ball controllers, and is compatible with 
ALL Spectrum software. OPGRXTIS LK£ RXED 

GFTKm\Hm¥M^smcmMnM^mmmmpriofmMmMm 

The f te>^ ibf Illy of Protocol 4 control is achieve^j by a specially 
designed CustomCard' system. CusiomCards are easity 
program mod to sy \l aJI type s of games. 

Simply dip in a piogtammed card for immediate customised 
contfo!. With preset cards supplied Protocol 4 can emulate the 
followir>g controJ standards: AGF/Protek. Kempston and ZX 
(fiterfac© 2 - both pteyers. You can change or reprogram Wank 
cards (1 supplied) to get the responses you want - even on 
games without joystick options. 

Utilising hiardware Programmed technok:»gy you have the benefit 
of automatic e»ght direction control, no powif-down 
pnogramming loss, guaranteed conflict-freG operation with other 
periptierals, includtng micfodrives. and no extra software to load 
or awkward joystick movements and key presses to make eadi 




time you load another game. 
The keyboard remains fully 
operative at all timesv 

It is also perfeclty possible to connect up to five Protocol 4's on 
one Spectrum, each programmed sepef^tely. for multiple player 
control — only possi We with the hardware programmed dMign, 

lrHX>rporated inio the deagn is a computer Reset button for 
clearing the computer memocy between games without pulng 
the power f^yg out 

Fully guaranteed for 18 months, Protocol 4 comes supplied with 
five CuslomCarrfs. ten Quk^k Reference Programming Cards 
and compiete instmctions. 




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PROGRAMMABLE INTERFACE 

Asthe ftfsi fiily hardware pre^grarnmecf (oysfck interface, this product 
tias beconnie vi^JI ssiablsshed over rhe pasr >^ar amJ will acoepi ALL 
s^artdard joysticks or trackballs, induding Ouk^kshot II wUh rapid f ra\ 
for use wiih ALL Specirum or 2X81 sohwam — not just Ut<^6 with m 
joystick option. 

* No Software programining required. 

* Prograitimtng rs nor lost when power fs disconnected between giames. 

* Eight way moverrienl — with or wrthout the fire button pmssad — only 
requires setting of the four normal directions. 

i^Compatibititv is guarantMd wtti ALL key readkig techniques— 
mach I ne COd© or BASIC. 

Several iniertaces cm\ t>e saparateFy pfogrammed and 
fitted to one computer for muftiple player games. 
Kjeyboard operation is totally unaffected by this interface, 
as with all AG F add-ons, and will never oonflict with an^ 
other devce fitted at tf>e same time 
Twelve mon[tis guarantee, key programming infonnation 
and a pack of Quick Reference Cards, to speed up 
setting of the dips, are supplied wrth 
fulNnstructions. 

INTERFACE If 

The AGF Inierface II repres^its the best low cost introduction 
to joystick contrd. 
The AGF control standard te now offered by ewer 100 games or 
utilrty programs for use with any |oystick or irackbatl. 
Any game which is controlled by the cursor movement keys {5,6,7.8) or 
has a Protek option is ateo compatib(e with Interface II. 
A rear connector allows other peripherais to be connected at the 
same time, 

Ths (TOdyd is avaiJabte for either the Spectrum or ZX81. is supplied wrth 
yi instructions, a 12 month guarantee, and a 12/2% discount voucher 
^nst further AGF mail-order purdiases. 



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ROMSLOT 



The new AGF BomSlot Is designed fcf arv^w 
wfK) already owns a programrroWe joystick interlace, or pf«fen lo use 
the keyboard to control games, end would like to add the fwilty d ROM 
cartridge software to tiieir system. 

RonnSbt will accept the SinctBinangQ of instarrl kiading games and will 
also be compatible with the rww releases from F^rker Software — 
exciting new games CKily to be arable m ROM format. 

This system alk^ws instant play. Your computer memory size ts rxri 
impoitani and you will t>e able to p4ay games tt\at qouU ordir^ahly 
require more RAM 

RomStot incofporates an extra feature catted Restan" This aMows you 
to instantly re^rt the ROM game 

RomStot is guaranteed fcx 12 months and has a f ulf width expansion 
connector to accept joystick interfaces, speech units and printers etc. 

QUICKSHOT 

TfieChJicfcshot joystick is an ejcce^tent value game contrdter 
•noifporating suction cups lor sure-footed precision wrUi a comf ortaWy 
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on the base. 

QUICKSHOT II 

Ouiokshol II has improved styling with 3 trJofger type firing txitton as w«1f 
as the top firing action, with a broader base lor greater suction stability. 

It also has a unk)ue Auto-Fire^ facility which at rhie flick of a switch 
provides a constant rapkd firing actk)n simulating a fasi trigger finger. 




AGF Protocol 4. .* 

AGF PTQ^ramina We Inleff ac« 

JWiFRomSkol.,,, 

WF Intertace M .. 



^ t t I I 4 w 



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PRICE 
,..E».t5+tl00p4p 
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...E 9l»5H"e0.50p&p 

.C i.99+C0.50pii.p 



QutakihotliJoy«lk* , . , . , CtO,SO-htO.SO|S«p 

Qukktfidt JoyvtMt • .C 7M+£0.&Op*p 

Exfrl "CuitoinCircli , . . ^C 3-99 inc. pAp 

l^pirpack 

EitrB0uldcFW«r9iK« .C 0.8S Inc p&p 

PfDgrammi^ng Cirds (10 p«f peeli} 

Specify CompiJlef ^2Mi 

...**.. .Spectrum 



I endc^e Cheque/Postal Oder for ._.,,,.... 
Please detMt my Acoess/Vtsa/Diners Club Card 
Account No - ,,,,..* 

Signaiure ..........-....-* -...,, 

My Name . .. . .,4 *i-*»,, , ,*,..*,.*,.,* 

Address ...**., .....*** 



s 



Send to : AGF Hardware, Depi 

West Susses. PQ229BY, 

Tfade Enquiries hng (0243)823337 



, Ffeepost. Bognor Regis* 



There's nowhere else to go 





Win a Microdrive^ 



Plus 5 sets 




I 



RREBIRD are offering a Microdrive Expansion Kit val- 
ued at £90 to the winner of this competition, and for the 
runners-up there are five complete sets of FIREBIRD 
software for the Spectrum. The titles include Run Baby 
Run, Exodus, Viking Raiders, Terra Force, Menace, The 
Wild Bunch, Mr Freeze, Crazy Caverns, Byte Bitten , and 
the CRASH SMASH Booty* ten games in all. 

44 CRASH Christmas Special 



of software! 





"-^^ ;^ 



To be amongst the winners all you have to do Is con- 
struct a humorous sentence or short paragraph of no 
more than 1 00 words along the lines of the star letter in 
this month s CRASH FORUM, incorporating all the 10 
titles from the FIREBIRD range. CRASH will select the 
most amusing and distribute the prizes accordingly. 
Send your entries to: FIREBIRD COMPETITION, CRASH 
MAGAZINE, PO BOX 10, LUDLOW, SHROPSHIRE SY8 1DB to 
aarive no later than the first post January 18 1985. 
Entries must include your name and address, don't 
forget! 

CRASH Christmas Spedal 45 



Iwith 






Now Trdshman is a great British success 

he's ready for international stardom — and you can neip 
him on his way around the world. Our hero has the talJ 
order task of cleaning up every major litter spot around the 
globe. Scooping up flowers thrown into the bull ring by matador 
fans in Spain, collecting the tissues of the faithful as they sob by 
Jerusalem's Wailing Walt, picking up coconuts from a palm beach in 
Samoa and collecting the empties at the German beer festival 
(Trashman stiil likes his tipple!) are just some of the challenges that 
make up Trashman's task. 

Of course, your skill can help our hilarious hero lo complete the 
ni^cessary litter collection at every location, so he can earn the money to 
fly on tu im^Hi^iigii^lllglll^^^lll^l^^^m^l fi^f^fjl 2,^ ^^ visits 




^ A, 



are every fun 



Travel with Tra^ 

and tscompati^ 
equivalpf ■ 



X^.9^. 



i\Ln rslauer scoring, Hall of F? 

ilace 2. Protek or 
■ SKSpectnjmtoci 



TRAVEL Wmi TRASHMAN. AUTHOR ~ MALCOtMBVANS 




5d«cted tKk* d New GeiMratlon Software 
an KbadaUc from ^otif local computei 
Mif« lAcllairger bvainchcs o£ 



WHSMITH.^ 



JohnlUtenzies 



WooiMOmH] 






New G«iwfiitkHi prodm^^ are mM 
uxofding iq ihclr temis of tiack 
ftfid concUlkms of sale. 



, FHFfPOST 
BaihBA2 4TD 
Tel: 0225 316924 




VULCAN , who have been distributing amongst other things the SPECTR AVIDEO QUICKSHQT 1 and 
QUiCKSHOT 2 , have now released the GUNSHOT joystick, which seems to be a synthesis between the 
two QUICKSHOTS . Ttie marked difference lies in the cream and grey colour of the unit, which is either to 
distinguish it from the other two offerings or to give tt a MSX or Commodore family resembiance. Eenie, 
meente, minte mo, which one to dioose from? 

fined lo the wire ©ncte of tho 
cable. The (ever handte ir>cor- 
pocatm a moutded gnp and 
kxks W^& an inveflad QUICK* 
SHOT 1 Iwer. A round 
thumb-act jvaieci fife button is 
positior>ed in suc^ a way that 
the palm ai the hand oorms to 
r©st on the joystick eodosurep 
^abilisjnc the ^oty&idK for 
ona-handf opefation. A further 
round fire buTlon is available al 
10 o'clock in tha main body of 
Iha unit and is fOf right-handers 
only. Both ft re buttons actuale 
dome switehes rnounted on 
smalt pcb's. The body- 
mounted fre button pcb has 
provision for an AUTORBE 
Option, but the review model 
{CL-123)did noi have ihis fea- 
ture and the switch opening Is 
covered by the manutacturer s 
labet The cable is the usual 
unit tncofporattng an integrally 
mokted D connector 
{ATAHIoompatible pin-out) 
and retaining grommet. Four 
large suction cups provide sta- 
biJiEy for Qoe harxl oporatJon 
(provided tftef e are ixi ciumbs 
on the tablet). 

IN ACTION 

Ttie sticit Mtion is whai of^ 
tias oome to expect wtlh this 
type of construction There is a 
faiily short ajxl loose travel 
with poor (wiierifig acrtion, but 
this ^lows on the other hand 
for pretty fast edging' on some 
games Wrtti the combination 
of short throw arKi poor cen- 
tering it is quite easy to do 
diagonal moves by mistake. 
The GUNSHOT isn t kJeal for 
handheld use due lo its great 
^dth but it comes into its own 
when sudioned' to the table 
The unit is Solidiy conslruded 
Bnd withstands the usual van- 
dalism when playing 
DECATHLON type garrwi^ 

CONCLUSION 

GUNSHOT fits Into the low- 
Mi prlc« category ol |oy- 

sttolis ami feel» like mn 
ImprmrMi and certainly mora 
rugged version of the 
QUICKSHOT 1 joystick. 
It aom not have the triggef 
fire action of the QUTcK- 
SHOT 2 and obviously does 
not Include the AUTOFIRE 
tftcil^ as standard. 
The tamiliarity of the design 
Js «ppareni and given the 
hind of technique used the 
quality of action i^ pretty 
mu^ ttie same compared to 
Ha competition. At £7.95 thl« 
If ob V lousty a good fi rst buy. 




GUNLAW-THE GREATEST 
GUNSHOTIN THE WEST 



COHSTHUCTION 

GUNSHOT seems et first to 
oon>e out of th« same moukls 
is the QUICKSHOT 1. bdt 
9m6 an cpta a tow dif- 
ferenoas. On thfa inalda csn t>e 
tourd the usual alar contact 
arrangement which is acti- 

48 CRASH Christmas Spwtal 



vated by the pla^ic actuator 
ring integral to the plastic shaft. 
A marked difference iies tn the 
fact that the rir>g is not made to 
lim as usual with this type of 
(fodignp so a more K^Ed reel 
should be o(A0<i on actuation 
The piastic shaft is suspended 
by a sphehcal support In the 



lop fnoukSng and by a stiff 
spring prolrudir>g from the 
tever shaft which acts as a floK- 
itrie bearing shaft, all very simi^ 
iaf to the QUICKSHOT 2 The 
common star makes contact 
with four nickel plated scfow- 
heads.. which are mounted on 
turrets and hold the solder tags 



SPECTRUM'S ADVANCED lOlYBOARD 



■ The LO PROFUJE prtDfessionai keyboard m the uHimate 
iqjgr^te for your Sp&cmim. By repkang its exiting keyboard 
with d high qmhw U3 - ; PROFILE, you give ihis workl 
beating computer ihe keyboard it deserves. 

The LO PROFILE is a full size QWERTY keyboard wiih 
full travel posiuve aaion keys for ^per-fas! entry of programs 
and data. Presented m an ultra modem and robusi enclobiire, 
ihe LO -PROFn^ m elegantly styled and m mclmed 
foiwaids for convemem operation. 



■ Featumrg a Ml size space b^ wilh df?djcated numenc and 
cursor keypad tiie LO PROFILE increases the number of 
keys from 40 to 53. A cornbiridnon of de^Iy lab^^lled. 
scuipttiied and height adj tidied keys aids the advanoe to 
fault 4reo touch typmg, 

■ Advanced Memory Systems have esiablished an exceUeni 
reputaDon for product reliability and prompt debvcry Thii^ 
product has been tested lo an impressive 20,00O.QOD 
dept£^55ioTk5 per key and AJVIS offei a full Qtx^ year guaianiee. 











£49-95 



FROM 




>FILE 

jr 10 
fkeyboard ertcl^ 
/L0>>P|J10FILE 



thelboard 
} €ompa!a&le with 





H deJers th^ 



r> >PR6Fn* 
3. Or plfkme 



■npQ m 



ibel 



TUjE with our full 
093S\602690/^ 



Pteasesandlfo JU>>>PltifilfiKerliouda|£49J6pfe» 

I E2J0pa(>(VATi)ch;iPV€) | 

nlTOdomcheque/FOfcri .^.^srdflbtt^o^KMcw!! 
CaidNo 

pBocbycard I 
n Access caid 



Addra^ 



I I I t I M 1 I I I I 

I SIgiwliire _^_ ^^^^ 

I Nan*@ 

I 

I lb: AdvariC(^ MenikOfy Sysifi^ I 

' C^een Lane. Apptefmu Wamngfion WA4 5NG ' 



I 
I 



Postcode . 



i""";- 



••I f 



• •I' 

••it 



THERE'S NEVER BEEN A ffiTTil 



BUCK ROGERS 




iiiAmemaKLSnPhAHi^ 











«*** «-******+ * * 



BALLY MIDWAY. MICRO 
PROSE and ACCESS. 
Amongst our winning line-up 
you'll find games ol pfoven 
popularjly, not only in the 
home, but in arcades across 
America ! 

So play the game and 
discover for yoursell why 
there s never been a better 
lime to own a Spectrum ! 



BLUE MAX 



FORT APOCALYPSE £7.95 




UP'N'DOWN 



£7.95 



h^--. 


i-«ji^ 


^BhllB/ n ^ A I " i^s^^^l 






4 



l»!^ 



ELee 




F-15 STRIKE EAGLE £9.95 



BRUCE LEE 



£7-95 



0£ked by atl leading computer stores including: 



WllbMITH WILDINGS WDOUVQffTW 



,. intormatton on how to become a US, Gold stockist write to CentreSoft. Unit 10. The Parkway fndustrial Centre, 
li«et. Birmingham B7 4LY. Telephone: 021-359 3020. Tele*: 337266, Overseas enquiries welcome. 





FROM REALTIME 



^^^! 



^jQ^^^J^ 



-^^:■ 



-^1 



AND PLUNGE INTO THE TRENCH DO 



• ^ ^m jjm <, y.i .i-.^ - T^^-l . 1 , p p, . 



^OOSTARSTRIKES MUST BE WON!! 



eallimewasaCRASH 
Smash \n the Decamter issue ri foil* 
ows in the wake of their highly popular 
Tank Duet and is an exciting 3D game 
set in space, Th# graphics are colour- 
ful (unusual in VMire frame games) and 
eorivindng. This is perhaps the clos* 
est yet that micro gamas have come 
to imitating the da^ic cinema offer- 
ing StQf IVars 

The game involves you in fihng twin 
lasers from your space eraft at attack- 
ing aliens who huh plasma txslts at 
you. There are three different screens 
with numefous levels of difficulty in 
Space, on Hm surface of the battfe 
star and (kmn In the 'equatofial 
trench', which contains a protective 
force field through which you have to 
fly lo reach the noKl level of play. 
Offtce through it. you are ejectecf once 
more into space and the battle star 
explodes t>ehind you. 
*A piBBsmg and high-p^rformancB 
gamB, ' said the CRASH review 





^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^H|;i'.^SAlk^-. 




i^'ifiiii iiwii 


^ ^RJ^^^^^K 








^^^' ^H^^^^^^K 




^^- ' li^^^HH!^ .:.. 




y^^^l^HHI^^«£^;ii^-...v^^^^^^^g^^V'^' 


CRASH 1 
by RmI 

give awa 
the gami 
answer t 
on ttie tt* 


>tas too coplM of JRisnmi \ 

tim«{retail price £5.95) to V 
y. If you would like a copy of N^ 
9, all you have to cto is to \. ,^ 
he following five questions ^WSk 
teme of space and send in IH 



52 



Cft4s^ 



Chrii 



'SfiTlg^ 



^p^dm 



youf answers on a postcaid (or the 
beck of a sealed envelope) to: 
STARSTRtKE COMPETlTtON, 
CRASH MAGAZINE, PO BOX W. 
LUDLOW. SHR0PSHm£$Y8lDB 
to amve no later than the first post 
January 18 1985. 




1. Was the first marv to S0t foot on Ifio 
moon A) Fred Nimtjita, B) Buzz 
Atdm, C) Neil Anrntrong, D) Yuri 
Ga^ahn? 

Which is \h& largest planet in the 
Solar System? Is it A) Mercury, 
B) Satum, C) Uranus. D) Jupitef? 

3. Which country first sent a man into 
space? Was it A) China. 
B)TTieaS.A., C) Britain, 
D)TheU.S.S.a ? 
A dog has orbited the earth in a 
spacecraft. Is this statemeni THUE 
Of FALSE? 

What is the name given to a 
grouping of stars whidn appear to 
make up the shapes of mythicaJ 
characters? Is tl A) QUASAFI, 
8} SPRINKLE C) CONSTELLAKON 
dS CELESTIAL? 






^\ 



■4% 



^W *^'* » 



^/y 







MOVI 



READY, 
STEADY 

GO!! 

KEVIN FOSTER TALKS 
TO MIKE ANDERBSZ 
OF ROMIK 



Rom Ik are bade - that's the message for 
Spactfum owners everywher©. The 
Slough -bas^ software company, whi^« 
headquarters are a dinqy oonverted 
wamhouse on an indusirial esiate, have 
recefitty begun produdf^ games fof the 
Spectrum again afl er a dry spell of almost 
two years. During that lime they were not 
idle: development of the Commodore 64 
and Amstrad compyters, and the 
Touohmastar graphic pad are jusi a f aw erf 
ttie projecte undertaken by this ambitions 
young company As an indicaticin of their 
growing stature, Thofn EMI recently 
^reetl to harxlle Romiks disthbutiofi 
nrtworN -a nrt incor^idefable scoop for a 
software house^ 

Romik cajTiie into existence in the 
middl^& of 1982. founded by two e)<- 
members ol Rabbit, Mike Barton and 
Steve Clartc. Wtth a fiercely indepefxfent 
spirh, the company survived mamly on 
freelance cornmission worK. Games to 
their ^edit for ihe Spectrum 48K include 
:iD Monswr Ch^e. Shark Attack. CoSouf 
Dash and Spectm Smash, They now 
possess a f ulMime programminp team for 
the first time, and the indicatior^ from 
Romiks Publicity Manager Mike 
Ander(«9£afe thai the company i$ all set 
to go. The emphasis is on making 19(35 
thetr yea/, using the Spectrum as a 
launching pad. 

The first and most obvious question is 
why w0r0 Bom* Out of fhe Spm:trum 
market for so ioag? 

In the first instance, ours was a con- 
scious dedsN>n to leave the Spectrum 
majl^etr We fetl that tt was in a very 
healthy posftion indeed and was pro- 
ducing software of a very high standard, tt 
dWni really need another software house. 
The Commodore market, however, did, 
and that s why we went tiiere. We felt that 
the Commodore was tacking in 
imaginative, high quality software. 
Basically what FTomik were looking for 
was somewhere to make an impact, and 
we found in the Commodore our best 
Of3portunity. 

You b0h^\/0 ffrm that the Spectwm 
rnarket fs now in a position wrtere its ripe 
tor the pfCkirtg? 

Yes, in my opinion the Spectrum gels a 
supefior quantity of advanced software. 

ExacHy when wilt Rorrak be re'easirrgr 
its new rm}ga of software tor the 
Sp&ctfum? 

In the Sphng of 198S. If tt>ey are 

56 CRASH Christmas Special 



sucoessful then there will t>e more games 
to tofkiw. H deperids on the reaction they 
receive from the ma* el Obviously, ii the 
^iinas-b^ing pubEic are impressed by 
mem we will know that the markei is ready 
for more. 

How witf Pomik gan^es differ from a// 
tfre Qth&f games frt^f are currentty 
a¥a(iBbfe to Ihe home computer owner? 
We are trying hard to lake the computer 
garr^ away from the arcade done - the 
pedictabte 3D style, etc Our games will 
be much mofe to do with rde-pEaying, 
rmttti-player, arcade fantasies But at the 
same time they will still be a lot ol fun to 
play Romik games will also be accufale. 
With less ferocious big^iteims. 

What do you mean by O^at i^t 
stefemeni? 

Well, look how many producte claim to 
have the best 3D graphics, or irtle 
fmnselvBs epic arcade adventure 
games'. Megagames is a term that has 



are wrong. We want to be sure that we 
deliver what we promise. Romtk tms a 
good name to Irve up to. 

)Mtf the games you release n&xt year 
do justice to tf?a; reputation ? 

Yea. I ttllnk so. At the morrtent we are in 
the 3id generati^xi of software games. 
The 1 St ganef ation was typified by games 
su<^ as Pac Man, the 2rKl by 7>me Gatv 
(for Quidcsitva). and the 3fd by MajJic 
Miner, which started a whote stream ol 
amusing arwJ imaginative games Despite 
all the promises and all the daims, we're 
sfiti in that 3rd generation today. Romik 
intend to t5e tlie firsl uxripany to bring out 
4th generation games, and ihese will t>e a 
considerable extension, i can tell you now 
that they win be something very spedal for 
the Specimm owr^ef. And wnjte we are 
softening up the maiket, our in-tiouse 
learn will be devaloping the 5th 
generation of games for most of Ihe ma|or 
microcomputers. These will be released 




been, blown out of all proportion. Tm 
personalty vefy worried t)y the amount of 
misrepfe^ntation that goes on in the 
advertisir^ and packaging of cassettes. I 
don t think this is a conscious effort to 
mislead people, more of a bad hatxt that 

Gckagers and producers seem to have 
ien into. When games make these sort 
o< daims for themselves and then fait to 
live up to them, they are letting standards 
down quite drastically. 

What do you think will be the fikety out- 
come of aft ^is? 

I ttiink the market is heading for a few 
unpleasant su rprises Come next year, for 
example, when the Chnstmas boom has 
died, hom^e computer owners will 
suktefily find that they need to t}e a lot 
more discerning about ihe games they 
buy. And advedtters will have to learn to 
be a lot more partlajSar about the terms 
they use to describe games Frankly I'm 
surprised that the advertising standards 
authority hasnl stepped in sooner All Tm 
sayinc) is that people are going to be dis- 
appointed because some of the things 
they have been promised wtti simply not 
bedelivefed. 

Wow ofoes Romik intend to avoid the 
pitiali of misfBpresentating games? 

Romik will tell the truth about their 
games. We will be as objective as 
possible and expect to be caidned if we 



in the Autumn of 1 9BS, preceeded by a b+g 
advertising campaigns. 

You talk of a 4th and now a 5(h 
generation of games, isn't ffrere the 
danger thet peopte wHI see this as an 
Bxampie oi the sort of cheap pubfiat/ 
stunt tha t you critimsed eattier ? 

Yes, there is. but l hope no orre sees 
this as a c^eap putriJdty stunt. We have 
the expertise now to produce the sort of 
games f ve mentioned, arid we re not con- 
fined by the sort of cormnerdal demands 
tf)at frampef other sof^vaie houses. Nor 
are we under any pressure to release 
games, simply because we re not totally 
reliant on them fof our survival We've 
survived this far to date while other oom- 
pani^ have gone under, by havir>g a 
dfvefse range of activitiM to be involved in 
- consumer accounts, development of the 
Amstrad. and several other busm^s pro- 
jects Ihal shouW see us well into next 
year. It's a very restricted markel and 
mi03t software fK>uses are milking 11 dry, 
but Romik ddn't nmd to do that . 

WhBt ^m is your ove^! New Year 
message? 

Wo war?t to tell Specffum owneiB that 
we haven 1 forgotten them and we will r>ot 
let them dovm. We could afford (o la low 
until we were ready to retease our pro- 
duels. Now ttiai the Ome has come, 
rm cxmvinced i1 was well worth waiting for. 



BiALTlMB 



\ 



C5.95 




YoM against 
en^my lankSi UFO» 

A killer of #iaificr 
CRASH Rating 83%. 




ZX SPECTRUM 48K 



SINCLAIR, KEMPSTON AND CURSOR 
JOYSTICK COMPATIBLE 



wf^ 







-^ '^te- 




i?te"Sii^ 






m 





m 





.JK. ' ^ aA 





H 



ho Ket Trilogy is an athfenluro clas- 
sic for the Specirum 4eK, with th« 
player atempting to liberate Ket from 
Vrarj and his evil entouraqe As a 
bonus 10 tt>e first persorj I the 

quest and free Km. Incemivij vmi duly 
besidw upon him or her the granrf ttt?(* 
Of Brilains Best Advontui 
offer them a video cassette racocoor 
of their dwrice Ho ih© value of C40ot: ' 

So orag yoursaii away irom itm lyiiy 
pfOgrammnft thte r*hnt:ima^ And gM 

"WJr you 

tavo to do lo win a ujp^ Qt lu 

iduaily and 
title, m 



ipMi 



gleamed i 
" SOFTW. 
the chance of Winn 
py o* their present§|; 
pack The Ket Trilj^ 
price £12-95), 



mSxi 



ountains a 
Vran andThe\. 
as a late filter^ii 
ingsthisChris^ 



ining 
. >/e of 
al Mission^ 
I their s 



Write -J^^^^reCTmairr^^^ 
a piec^pMHRnd send thv ^^ ><> io 
INCENTIV^^ COIWPETITION. 
CRASH MAdAZJNE, PO BOX 10. 
LUOLQW. SHROPSHIRE SYB 10B 
NtO arriive no later than first post Janu- 
a>yja. 1984. 



N^ 



■ «]■ - - 



MOUNTAINS OF KET 

TEMPLE of: 

THE FINAL iVSSiON 

and you must make up 50 new worcfs 
from each title. Please don't forget to 
put yOMT name and address q^ ^"" 
piece of Qgperyoy send tn If - ' 



THE BIGGEST COMMERCIAL BREAK 
OF THEM ALL .<- 



A look at the crash of Imagine 
Software as seen through the eyes 
of a film crew: 



Depending on when you read 
this anicla. you may be aboul 
to see. have seen or maybe 
missed, a lascirvating 
programme on BBC2 
television (Decembef 131ti at 
6 00pm) in ihe Comnwrciaf 
Breaks senes about hnagina 
Software Lmited. TTie 
bverpool software giani 
crashed out dunng Ihe 
Sijmmef after a lite of a little 
over 18 mwiths. dunng which 
time it produced more hype 
than any olher software house 
betore The company 
appear^ to bask in 
self-creaieci publicity, much of 
wtiJch was very clever, and so 
I It seems appropnate that its 
death should aiso have been 
as well recorded for po^lerity 
tjy ihe media i1 soupht for its 
promotion, as had its 
successes in life. As things 
turned oui, the BBC film crew 
got a rather different sto^v to 
the one thay had conceived, 
but much of the material shot 
for Commercial Breaks cannot 
appear in rhe finished 
programme, because rl falls 



tofinvt. 

flog«F KMfi spoke to BSC 
director Paul And«raeft as he 
was busy putting the finishing 
touches to the programme. 



GIVE us A BREAK 



iarly in Ihe new year of 1 984 
BBC Television director Paul 
Andersen, who among other 
things was about to direct 
some ot the programmes for 
the CommerDai Breaks 
senes. witnessed the 
enthusiasm surrounding some 
of the new generation of 
computer gam&s that were 
beginning to appear in the 
sfvopSp and appreciated ihat 
the emefging software houses 
were pioneering a new 
market. Commefcial Breaks (s 
a series which broadly 
examines the struggles of 
individuals and companies 




who are trying to break a new 
product into the ma*et place 
To Andersen the new 
computer game sottwary 
moguls seemed like a good 
subject for a programme and 
he began researching, lookif>9 
for a suitable company lo 
feature. 

An obvious place to look 
was in computer magazines, 
and It reprdly became 
apparent ihai Imagine was a 
strong contender because of 
the spate of clever advenising 
that was then appearing whicn 
was designed for Imagine by 



Sting . an offshoot company 
Imagine, coupled wrth the fact 
that Andersen, like so many 
people in Bniam, was reading 
the nalionai press publicity 
about Imagme s teenage 
programmer Eugene Evans, 
who was said lo be earning 
£35. 000 a year and couW 
afford a fablulously expensive 
car when he was st^Jl too 
young to be able to drive it 
There was obviously a story 
here for Commeraai Breaks. 

The n©?f t step was to 
approach Imagine and ask the 
owners whether they would 
mind being featured So 
Arriersen travelled to 
Liverpool arxJ Spoke to the 
young bosses of the new 
company. Mark Butter and 
David Uwson Lawson had 
wntlefi A/ca*a. Imagines 
bigoest hit ai Ihe time, and 
Butler had sold it mlo shops 
starved of software over the 
82 Christmas, At lirst ihey 
seemed a bit reludant, and 



Imagine s Operations 
Manager, Bruce Everis». 
explained thai there were too 
many things under wraps to 
allow in the piY'^ eyes of 
television On the other hand 
the publEOty-eager Evenss 
must have t>een able to see 
the promotional capital that 
cotJid be made out of having 
BBC TV hanging around tor 
some weeks maJKing a film 
about them. Dave Lawson 
saw irfiother angle altogeiher, 
and to appreciate thts it s 
wonh remembenng what put 
Liverpool on the map m the 
early Sixties. 



The Beattes transfomied 
British (and ttien wortd) pop 
ifiysic in the earty s^Kties, and 
created a modei^n myth about 
Liverpool, their home city 
Over the years Liverpool has 
come to see rtself as a 
possibly undemounsfied arid 
umierprivileged city, bui one 
bursting at the seams wtth 
imagai nation arid guts With 
the eighrfes somelnmg similar 
to the Beatles seemed to be 
happen I no. only m compuier 
software tnis time, arxJ Dave 
Lawson must have seen 
Imagine as being at its very 
centre Stephen Blower says 
that, Lawson had some 
greater vision of what could be 
produced in software ihmn 
anyone else 1 ve ever met 

At the time when Paul 
Andersen approached them. 
Imagine was working on Ihe 
concept of the megagames, 



havir>g exhausted the 
posslbilittes of Ihe home 
computer s limited memoiv 
Lawson, who was largely 
responsible for overseeing 
their development, saw that 
the BBC would be ab^e to 
record for postenly the 
ooncepL development and 
oreative efiofi of a dedicated 
teani in bringing these new 
supflf games out In a way, the 
tmagine team, and especially 
the men who ran the 
company, would be seen to be 
ushering in a new Beatles era. 
but in software rather than in 
mustc For the TV director the 
megagames also offered an 
essentia) Imch pm on which to 
hang his programme It all 
seemed ideal and. ai the tiin^ 
neither party knew how 
dramatic^ly diifferent things 
woukjtumout. 

When the BBC film crew 
went in to start shooiing 
maienal for the programme 
ttiey realised that imagine 
made good visual matenal; 
huge, luxurious offices, acres 



|£IMBa!iJJl! 



by the ton load, lots of young 
programmers, secretaries in 
abundance, young gophers' 
acting as runners for the 
management and a company 
oarage packed with a fleet of 
Ferrari Boxers. BMWs lof the 
lesser executives and the 
famous Mark Butler custom 
hand-buiJt Harns motorbike. At 
Ihe time Imagine was 
emptoying 1 03 members ot 
staff Andersen had a funny 
feeling that it all looked too 
good to tje true - and rt was 
He noted thai beneath the 
energy and busile there were 
inconsistencies Principal of 
these was an apparent spirt m 
the senior management which 
mean I factions were working 
ageinst each olher Bui Ihe 
first noted discrepancy in the 
outward bcavado was that 
Eugene Evans had obviously 
never reoerved anyihing hka 
the £35, OOO a year quol^ m 
thePRsiory Buiwhat 
seemed more surpnsing to 



60 CRASH Christnias Special 



Andersen, was thai Evans had 
never realty wrinan any 
programs erther - certainly 
nottijng that Imagine car^ to 
pMWish. This might not have 
airpnsed some of hfs 
contemporary Liverpudlmn 
programmers who were 
working for other software 
houses, however, who knew 
mutfi betler. 



THE GROWING SPLIT 



Eugene Evans like Marfd 
Butler had worked at 
Microdtgital. one of the firs! 
ever Bnttsh compuier stores. 
Situated in Liverpool Bruce 
Evenss was atso assoaated 
with MicrodigEtal. and so were 
many of the prog rammers who 
were Eater to become the 
bedrock of the Liverpool 
software bi^iness They all 
knew each othef pretty well. U 
wasihesortofin-br^ 
atmosphere whjch leads fo 
pers<xia1ily clashes, and soon 
enough the BBC team began 
toseeevidericeofthem 

The disparity between the 
pyblici^ hype and the reality 
became increa singly apparent 
dwnng the summer months. 
C^tral to the problems was 
the fact that both Marf^ Butler 
and Daw© Lawson had 
catapulted to fame and fortune 
within a lew months. They 
would have been 
super human if they had not 
come lo believe a little in their 
own pubiiaty and both in their 
drtferent ways appear to have 
laifed in coping with the 
fortune Mark Builer s 
tockground after leaving 
Microdigitai was as Saies 
Manager for Bug* Byte where 
Lawson also worked as a 
programmer They tx>!h left to 
set up Imagine m a small ffonl 
room after several 
disagreements wittl the 
Bug-Byte man^gemeni. The 
money that sales of Arcs^m 
; made over the Christmas of 
82 was remvested m bigger 
premises, personnel and in 
new programs, which also 
SoW weir Matu rally, the two 
you rig moguls needed stall 
and management to help 
administrate the m-pouring 
fortune, a classic situaticin 
which encourages the 
devekspmenl of court 
chambertains One of the first 
such was Bruce Everiss, who 
seerr^ to have naiurai^ 
iita(ited himself more to Mark 
than to Oave. E veriss ^^s 
r^ponsible for the day to day 
running of the company, but 
the responsibility for financial 
control and a direclorship was 
put in the hands of Ian 
I Hetherlngton 
Hetnanngton attached 



himself to Lawson The 
factions had begun. 

One of Mark s hobbies ts 
fast motorbikes He created 
the Imagrne racing team and 
himself rode on the ira^ In 
fad Paul Andersen and the 
BBC crew were at the isle of 
Man TT races in June filmsng 
ala lime when Imagine was 
afready m senous trouble and 
teetenng on the brink of a 
crash Mark did sutfef a crash 
Iromcally, he was driven to the 
dismemberment of his empire 
swathed m bandages- 
According to Andersen {a 
view back^ up by many ofher 
Observers), the two bosses 
thought I hat because of their 
success in the field of games 
productEon. rt meani they 
couKJ handle all $om of oihef 
busEness6£ as well Almost at 
the outset they founded Studio 
Sting, together with Stephen 
Blower, the designer whose 
art work helped sell the 
company s image and which 
adorned Imagine covers. 
Studio Sting was to act as a 
des^gn centre and Advertising 
Agency for Imagine, which 
meant Ihe company would be 
entiil ed to an discount on ad 
space booked in magazines 
In return Stephen Blower 
received a to^os^are of 
Imagine (which wasn't worth 
att too much when fhe sftare 
was gladly landed ov&r). 
Wtthin a few months this 
S!tuaiion hacf changed and 
the JO'owas worth a tot on 
paper. The triad of Butler. 
Lawson and Hetherington 
wanted things rationaiised ^ 
le they wanted the iQ^o badk. 
Ttiefeare many rumours 
attached lo the goings on at 
IhiS time, m -fighting appears 
to have been fife, but 
whatever actuaity look p^ace, 
the outcome was that Studio 
Sting was left holding huge 
magazine advertising debts 
(which have remained unpaid ^ 
but Stephen heki onto his 
1 0^*, although he lost ai^y 
executive post within Imagine 
He therelore losl control over 
his own destiny when 
management decision led to 
its downlalL and is still 
undergoirvg legal wrangles 
t^atween himself and 
Butler- Lawson as to his 
financial resporisibniiti^ in the 
matter of imagine s vast debt. 
In a telephone convefsation 
wTth CRASH s Kevin Foster, 
Blower said. Imagine tnedto 
accuse me of certain things 
thai 1 did n 1 do For instance, 
they said I was detrimental lo 
the company s image and that 
I was booking advertising 
space that wasn t wanted I 
was accused of stealing, or 
mssappfc^nating Ei 0. OCX), 
and my wife was accused of 
being incapable of keepirig the 
books at Stud^o Stmg All this 



/ 




*^ 



Slcptiim llDw«r tl I ^ tlu i:* m\ Eh iDme ^1 mt Imigini t^i ii mm i d it ^am ^ Octu 



was later disfyroved in court 
He went on to say. They 
were obviouafy after my 10. 
Imagme owed Studio Sting 
E69 . OOO. so Ihe way \ see it is 
Ihal they attempted to brush 
that debt under the carpet 
The aJlegations were jusl an 
attempt to condone Ihe^r own 
actions, f was probabiv the 
only one at imagine who studt 
to what he was best at doing, 



THEMEGAGAMES 



Late in 83 Imagine had set up a 
deaf to produce games for 
putjbshefs Marshall Cavendish 
which may have been worth as 
much as El t million to 
imagine Earky in 8A the con- 
tracte were &gned. but even 
before Andersen had received 
the co-operation of Imagine to 
start shooting mere we^e 
signs that all was not well with 
the deal. By the time the BBC 
eiew was installed it was dear 
4iat things weregomg badly 
wrong Tn© megagameshad 
intervened Dave Lawson who, 
according toSruceEvenss. 
always insisted that the prog- 
rammers be left stncily alone, 
free to create wilhout man- 
agemeni interference, wanted 
to concentrate on the 
development of the 
megagames Marshall 
Cavendish became disen- 
chanted by the lack of prog- 
ress on the^r games They had 
already paid out a lot d money 
and seem to tmve been 
unhappy wtth the quality of 
whM wm ready They pulled 
out and vvsnted their money 



bade. But Imagine had taken 
on more people to cope, pf og- 
rammers, artists musicians, 
gophers None of these was 
laid off the overtieads went up 
afarmingly 

Meanwhile the megagames 
wefe not progressing as well 
as it was originally hoped they 
would Andersen noted that 
John Gibson was working 
hard at BandBfsnatch with Ian 
Weaiherbum, but Psy elapse 
was nowhere, nothirig mora 
than a paper idea. Yet at this 
stage the artist Roger Dean 
Ifamous for his record album 
sleeves and mythological 
books) had already designed 
the bo)(es and the ads mich 
were beginning to appear. 
Dean reputedly asked tor E6, 
000 lor ihts job. and Andersen 
Ihoughi he was smart 
enough to have demanded rt 
up front 

An important problem with 
the megagames was that they 
required a hardware add on 
which was to be made m the 
East To get the pnce rjght. 
enormous Quantities would 
have to t>e manuiactured. 
Imagine did not pc^sess the 
money any more, and anyway 
coutd not have sensibly 
decLded how many games 
woukj eventually sell There 
was indecisron a\\ round. 
Bruc^ Everiss was to say 
later. One option that we have 
is lo sell the company as a 
whole to Sindasr Research, 
arid Ive been speaking to 
Sindair Research, and they re 
not ml ©rested They re saying 
that Ihey want to keep 
programming of that nature 
outside their company 

11 transpired that Sinclair 



CRASH Christmas Special 61 







.tfi^ 



^ ^*_/ 



2; 



^A 



^*=««»r^fi»ft»: 



•^■:i!',raXvi«"'-"*.»««-,..„-;;;:;:: 



•' / 



"«*"««Kr.BK 




S«s?ti';G:'i'?.'«-«-T, 







Researc^i was on^ intarested 
<n buying (inishad produci ard 
that Ina megagamsa would 
have to b© design^ to work 
on the micro-dnve. because 
they would not und€)^fiake the 
production of masses of 

event Sinclair Rt^seach did 
buy an option or^ 
Bandefsnatch for the QL 
comf>uief to go on mfccfo-dnv© 
Aiwlher interesling rumour 



mat Paul Afvrtersen s film team 
were abl&lo vefity, was what 
oraufTod onrer the Christmas 
pehod o1 33 Jn 1 932 there had 
beefs a software shortage m 
the shops 1 963 was to be a 
boom time. ar>d rmagme 
decided on a devef ploy to foil 
the duplication of their rivals 
tapes. Ahead of time they 
booked the entire duplicating 
capacity of Kiltdale, one of (he 



bigg^ duplicators foe the 
software business The idea. 
Obviously, was to make it 
impossible for other major 
com ponies to get enough 
tapes duplFcated fof the 
Christmas rush On paper i\ 
looked ilk© an elegant a piece 
o* inclustnal sabotage In 
practice il backf^red Imagine 
ended up hinng a warehouse 



for the storage of the 
hundreds of thousarxte of 
cassettes that they ©iKled up 
With After Chnstmailhe 
bottom lell OJt of the market, 
and iher© was no way they 
could shift the games This 
was a principal reason behind 
the strange move to lower the 
pnceof Fmagme software. It 



62 CRASH Christmas Special 



also backfired because they 
had flooded rhe s^ops with 
iwi- selling tapes, and Ihen 
expecied eveivo^e to like ihe 
fact thai the tapes would have 
10 be sofd at a prjc© lower than 
Che whotGsate pr loe the 
shopkeepers had bought me 
tapes in for in the first plac^ 



THE SCRIPT CHANGES 



So in the middle of shooting a 
TV programme alJOJt a 
cofT^ny that was going 
places tast, Paul Andefsen 
found himself filming ofte with 
a huge staff i| no longer 
needed nor could afford, 
sitting ort a vast Slock of 
pfoducl it coutd not seJt, with 
pfogrammefs left tOthi^r own 
devices mucltx of ihe time and 
produpng gam^ thai were 
incf easmgly unpiayaWe and 
usually released mih bugs slill 
in them ( remember Sf on ^f^^^), 
run tjy a managemeni team 
That was beginning to 1 ail apart 
ai the seams Andersen 
recalls filming a meeting 
where the bosses sat around 
disojss^ng how large Ihe 
megagame boxes should be, 
whether they should be huge 
10 entice puniers to lork oui 
E30 10 E40. Of wheiher the 
large siie would put buyers off 
on the groumlsthat every ofie 
knows mode^ kit bo^es are 
usually full of air And this af a 
lime when ihetr empire was 
Nief ally lalling apart through 
lack of money and mounting 
debls Lawson was bun ed in 
his megagames Butlef was 
aciirig out the role of playboy 
^n his Ferran and atlhe bike 
tracks. Everiss was trying to 
I keep the offices running, while 
[he rest of Ihe top 
managemeni team struggled 
10 oope with the increasing 
Wtemess thai was developing 
between the In ad at ihe top. 
Some of the eft ects ot what 
was happening were apparent 
to outsiders as well t recall 
v^fiirtg Imagine fo^' a meeting 
with Dave Lawson and Bruce 
Everiss &ome1^me m laie April. 
Lawson never turned up and 
MarK Butler appeared lor a 
few moments, having |u St 
popped into the bulld^ng 1o 
pick up some petty cash It 
seemed a bit odd Ttie 
I resulting an icie which 
appeared m CRASH naturally 
quoted Everiss the rrtost. 
When the issue was published 
Buder rang me to comptain 
that the emphasis was wrong 
- rt made it sound like Evenss 
ran the company, he idd me. 
when in fact he and Dave 
were still in charge. 

As early as 16th April 1M4^ 
a petition was presented to Ihe 
High Court by Comhill 



Publications Ltd Jo have 
Imagine Software Ltd 
wound-up lof non-payment of 
detots. AI the time of writing I 
have been unable to esiabhsh 
what these debis were, or how 
they were iricuf f ^ The 
matter was heard on the 1 1th 
June, three or fotir days 
before \he TT races. On 
Monday 9th July at the High 
Court of Justice (Chancery 
Dlvisron) a luther petilion to 
wind-up Imagine on behalf of 
VNU Business Press 
(publishers of Personal 
Computer Games among 
others) went unopposed, 
Imagfne was linished. 

Bui whai was happening 
back in Liverpoo*? The SBC 
crew were filming right up lo 
the last moment, and 
witnessed the apathy and 
confusion thai attwxJed the 
last days A memorable scene 
is the rr^an from Kjltdale the 
duplicaiors. walking up and 
down Imagine s offices trying 
lo get to see eil her Butlef , 
Lawson or Hethennglon, the 
only people who oould pay 
him the CSO, 000 owed by 
Imagine, mucti of it for ihe 
mass duplication done over 
Chnsimas in an attempt to 
prevent oiher software houses 
having games ready He was 
in despair But Mark Butler 
was not available, ^n<i the 
La wson "H etheringlon faction 
had disappeared 

According to Bruce Evehss. 
they had already made the^r 
plans wetl beforehand . and 
events would appear to back 
him up What he told Paul 
Andersen, is substantially the 
same as wtiai he tokJ me over 
Ihe phone bach in July I'm 
not a signatory on the bank, or 
anything, but Ive had a look at 
the financial records of the 
comapny and Ihere has never 
been a VAT return {imagme 
had been runomg for W 
mc^rhs and should therefore 
have made at f&ast 6 VAT 
returns by iaw) . never a bank 
conciliation, never a creditor s 
ledger control account, never 
any budgeting, never any 
cash ffow lorecasling, no cost 
centres, not even m tn voice 
authorisation procedure. Just 
no financial control at all 

All these Imancral aspects 
were supposedly the 
responskbilftyof Ian 
H etheringlon . Pau I Andersen 
recaHsthai Helhenngton was 
usually unappfoachatrte 
during filming and tiad little if 
anything io say to the film 
crew. 

Is it possible that 
H etheringt on h ad a! ready 
sussed out the true financial 
pOSJiion of Imagine right at the 
start ol t^is tenure '^ It would be 
odd ^f he hadn t, since the 
Cfacks were there even before 
Chnsimas BS. What must 



surely have occurred to him is 
ihai Imagine was capable of 
makir^ a lot o1 money, and 
that the megagames were 
gosng to make ihem all very 
rich A lol of Imagirre was now 
defunct arid wasting money 
Debts were getting to be 
astronomical various 
attempts to raise money in the 
City had failed or been 
abandoned If ihe company 
went, so would the mveslment 
in the megagames. so too 
would their persona t finances 

Evenss again: Dave has 
become anxious about losing 
his big house in CoWy and 
about his kJds at expensive 
schools and Ian has become 
greedy and wants to become 
a millionaire overnight So Ian 
has pi'esen led this 
Finchspeed plan to Dave. 
Dave . grasping at straws, has 
taken it on board whrch 
means that only 20 peop le will 
be employed ' 



THE RESCUE PLAN 



FirKihspeed The name frrst hit 
the press after the I mag me 
collapse Finchspeed was the 
new company founded by 
Dave Lawson and Ian 
Helhenngton for what 
appears to be the express 
purpose of ac^ uinng all the 
Imagine assets As a result of 
canvassing opinion arxl 
currying lavour wilh those 
programmers whom Lawson 
and Hetherington considered 
sympathetic to ihem (rather 
than the Bui ler Evenss 
faction) . jobs were offered in 
the new company to 
appfOXEmately 20 people - in 
tad Ihose needed to continue 
wofk on and complete the 
megagames, 

At the time the Ftnchspeed 
documents were drawn up. 
very few people knew about 
the Lawson. Hetherington 
pJans, It seems MaiH Butler 
had no idea and Bruce Everiss 
certainly didnl Theydidnt 
tell Mark about this untiF the 
very last minule when they let 
him m on a third o1 
Finchspeed. Everiss told 
Paul Andersen later II seems 
rncr edible that the duo thought 
they couW get away with 
irar^fening assets from a 
company part owned by 
Bui ler. without riis knowledge 
Stephen Blower was also m 
the dark Later, he was to be 
held joiniEy responsible in law 
for Imagine s debts He told 
us. im still iiaWefof Ihe over 
drail , which was €t 12.000 
at the last cwjnl If it came 
to coun I think 1 woukj have a 
good mse against them, as 
has been shown last tsme I 
took them to court Blower 



appears to have maintained 
that Butler arKl Lawson should 
have protected his interests 
better , a nd the Cou rts have , 
agreed Butler and Lawson ! 
were ordered lo pay Blower 
back the £89. OOO. but failed to 
(to so. At a laier hearing the 
JydQe said that he ought to 
setid Butter and Lavirson (o jail 
for refusing a court order to 
pay. but they we^e let off on 
the grounds that m jail Ihey 
I would be unatile to put 
mailers right and that it was in 
the best interests ol both 
parties if Ihey were allowed lo 
. continue their present work 10 
be enabled to pay Blower 

Allhough the Finchspeed 
arrangements were made in 
secrecy, it did not quite 
escape the notice of the BBC 
leam. who actually filmed 
Dave Lawson signing a bgai 
document relating to softie 
aspect of Finchspeed This 
shol appeared m the rough 
cul of the programme (at the 
limeol wf!lir>g it is nol known 
whether it remains), tjul 
because Ihis deal was largely 
outside the scope of the 
programme Ihe shot ts just 

t there as v i sua) backg rou nd 
On 3 later occasion the <ilm 
crew were also present when 
Dave Lav^on s wife came mio 
his office to get papers signed 
for a passport snonfy before 
heJeftfor America with ' 

I Hethenngton With the 
; winding-up orders going 
through the courts 
unopposed. Lawson and 
Butler prepared to disappear 

1 from the scene 

On the telephofte. 
Hethenngton lokJus, Ididfll 
run away anywhere. I spent 
four weeks, day and night 
writing a business report. I 
was in America for i 

tund' raising, and we were 
damn near successful, but we 
had to have our tnp cut short 
because of the goings-on at 
Imagine He added. Im sick 
to death of peopte insinuating 
that anything untoward 

s happened at Imagine. 

In retrospect s! seems 

in credits e that they should 

leave Ihe country at such a 

time, unless one supposes 

' thai they felt unabEe to face the 

. I immineni disaster Protests 

It that 1 h e trip was a rea listic 
fund-rats I ng exercise for 
Imagine seem undermined in 
the face of the writs going 
u nopposed th f oug h the law 
couns before and during their 
trip As soon as the two men 
had pone, numerous 
' Cf editors, trying for weeks to 
get some reply to their 
demarxfs for overdue 
payment, were stumped^ 
t>ecause with Lawsw arxJ 
Heth e n ngton gone . t here 
was no one able to cope with 
the financial problems lis 

CRASH Christmas Special 63 



or ftif ee days Mm before Ihe 
assemblecJ staff arnJ tokJ thefri 
in a brief speech thai ^t was 
over, thai he hoped thay 
woo kJ get pabd whal they were 
owed ifit was possible, and 
that he would try ro find 
alternative employment for as 
marry &s possible During tho 
period between Lawson and 



It^ bailiffs arnvEng. life m the 
Imagine HO appears lo have 
been as disorganised and 
dream-like as 1 1 was m HiHer s 
Berlin bunker In repiy to Paul 
Andersen £ question about 
what had been happeninf, 
Everiss replied: Well, there 
was a whoJe pile of people jusi 
playing games there and 
they re h^ding (rom the 
camera II you go round the 
comer here, by the eicrt. you II 
find theres a big pile of ertipty 
fire eKt^^gu^shers because 
fhere s been fire extinguisher 
fights all week Th^ts oeen 
the main event. ' 

As tar as the BBC team 
ODuld see. ihe statt were 
mostly slitting around, 
welching videos and waning 
I lor Ihe end. Evenss was letl 
with trying to find jobs for 
a&out 60 staff, those left 
behrnd by the new Fmchspeed 
crew, and m the erHj he leit 
morally obliged lo resign 
Dave and Ian. being too much 
of cowards to face up io me. 
havetoid Mane thai they 
wouldn 1 wafil me here when 
th w reftyrprt, h e ^^4 



TfflLEBlU! 

Thatw 



also implf^ thai if we printed 
anylhing he didn t like, we 
woutd be making him a nch 
man iir.r^iicatsons of libel 
actions are all very well The 
fad remains that CRASH, 
along wrth other publications, 
had been promised payments 
by both Imagine s promoiional 
department and (m our caset 



These never am vad Buret 
Ihe time, he and Lawson were 
ass^gnlng assets out of 
Imagine into another oompany 
hard to accept 

Heaiheringtori s comments to 
us at face value when 
(whether interxJed or not) his 
absence piif a total block on 
payments. Yel equally it must 
have b«efi dear lo him thai 
paymenis could not t>e met. 



WINDING DOWN 



With knowledge Ihat VNU had 
succesfully issued a 
winding-up order on Imagme. 
the rest of the company s 
credilors began jammir>g the 



as largely it for 



not for the people involved 
Finchspeed has gone on to 
develop the megagaiTie 
Bandefsnatcf} for Sfndair 
Research to bhng out on the 
QL in the New Year, with a 
royalty from each umt sold 
going back to Ihe Imagine 
Uquidaiors to help pay back 
the company s debts It is a 
Ciitical time for its directors. 
Dave lawson and Ian 
Heatherington, who are 
r\atura]ly afrakJ of any adverse 
publicity Even as I was in 
London seeing the roiigh cut 
of the TV programme. Ian 
Heathermgion was on the 
phone try ir>g to get hold of 
Paul Andersen When I 
returned to Ludlow thai Fnday 
evening, I was greeted with a 
message that Heathef ington 
had rung me lo find out the 
same thing, having heard that 
we were writing about the 
Story Unfortunately for him he 
spoke to our Financial 
Director, and was told that as 
he still owed us C5. 625. rt 
wasnt sound sense to bother 

US' 

We phoned him on the 
following Monday morning, 
when he spoke to Kevin 
Fester and gave him the 
quotes used in this artide^ He 



64 CRASH Christmas Special 



of character with their recent 

adJons m moving assets from 

Inragme to Fmchspeed, and 
ives strength lo Bruce 
venss who said. All they're 

Iryirtgtodoisimance 

Fmchspeed with capita! from 

San Francisco. ' 
The significance of the 

pesspon Signing became 



realised that bolh men had 
taken their wives with them on 
the trip to America at a cost 
estimated by Everiss to be 
possiWy as high as C1 0. 000, 
and that at a time when 
creditof s were crawling all 
over the building trying lo get 
paid 

On the day Mark returned 
from the races, wrapped m 
bandages and driven by 
someone else, he arrived at 
Imagine headquarters to find 
Ihe bailiffs were in One ol the 
items they impounded was his 
pnde and joy, the Ferarn 
Boxer. Paul Andersen recalls 
that he seemed stunned and 
totally out of his depth. He 
didn t know what to do or who 
lobtame i1 seemed he was 
genuinely unaware thai things 




MovliH m from Imiptng TN IIC cfqw tinltried IHir f^fQ^rimnifi off liith Oum Htn; 
IM znmm ol Loslod Schaol Slrttlord itircti lor bugt ind Qhrs IttiiT vitd^d m a 



pfrprodi^nton mpv nl Ihfe new gtme NUftCHBACK 11 »i tt^e nifn ctmtn lirmt uvm. 



switchboard to Tind out what 
was going on CRASH was 
one of them The official Jine 
was that things were quite 
nomial. But no one knew 
where Lawson. Healherington 
and Butler were Evenss totd 
Paul Andersen. Mark d>dn i 
know where they d gone. The 
onty person they told was 
Andrew SirK^Jak, who 
basically s just David s 
gopher, and Andrew has been 
spying on Mark and myself 
ard reporting on a daity basis 
to them in San Francisco 
One press mention did 
suggest that the two directors 
were rn the Stales trying to 
raise venture capital in Silicon 
Chip Valley to save Imagine, 
but this wouSd appear io be out 



had reached such a state, or 
that his co-directors had fled 
the country and were in hiding 
(as everyone sad), 
incommunicado Sodos#fy 
did the TV c^ew follow the 
proceedings that I hey almost 
had their camera gear locked 
tnto the building by the bailiffs^ 

Mark went oft. to return two 
which they both part-owned at 
a time when Imagine was 
hoplessly in debt, ar^ 
desperately required th^e 
assets ii rt was to have a hope 
ot staying alive Recognition of 
thts fad can be seen m that a 
royalty on every copy of 
Bandersnatch sold by Sinclair 
will be going badt tolmagine's 
liquidators 

Some of the programmers 



are rNpw working freelance on 
games for Ocean, and others, 
including John Gibson hawe 
louryJed a new L<verpool com- 
pany with partial backing 
from Ocean calted Denton 
Designs and their first gam^. 
an adventure entitled 
GfHFfom me Gods shoukJ be 
released through Ocean 



IS wOfkir>g with his father in 
another software company 
called Voyager Stephen 
Blower worked f « Ihe year as 
a fre^anoe and is now at 
Ocean, where he has recently 
be^n made a director Of the 
collapse of Imagme he had 
this to say. Through greed , or 
little boys playing at big 
business, or whatever it was 
that earned rt all they ruined 
something that was 
worthwhile carrying on with 

Heathenngton added. My 
attitude has always been that 
Is all over now. and virtiai we II 
do fS quickly get our Itves back 
log el her aga^n I don ! wan! 
people brmging back 
something that happened sm 
or seven months ago. What 
we re dopng now. Dave and I . 
is improving on megagames 
to produoe Somelhjng quite 
Stanilng We want to dow out 
at the top. 

In summing up his unique 
e^penence m watching the 
death ot the software giant. 
SBC director Paul Andersen 
said. 11 was a fascinating time 

in a dty at th<^ (oca& of the 

software business It s a 
shame ii all feH apart - there 
were a lot of talented people 
there who were lei down It's a 
brt like a movie thai never goi 
made, aH the technicians and 
all the energy, but the 
producers failed. Its going to 
be ifrtweating lo see what will 
ranroofthemaH 

With the finish of Imagine. 
Ihe TV programme may have 
looked as though it was over 
loo Howewver Ocean bough! 
a major portion ol Imagines 
assets an<i so Paul Andersen 
had a finale thrown in his lap. 
Filming conimued at Ocean's 
offices in Manchester, as they 
worked on Hunchback ii. The 
BBC may not have got ihe 
story of tne Imagine 
megagames. but at least they 
managed to follow the 
deveiopmeni of computer 
games from concept to 
release, ard in the process 
Ihey saw a fascinating si ice ol 
corporate life 





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1^^^ BY DAVID CRANE 



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Yes. Ghostbusters is a computer game, too. 

The game play follows the film with incredible 
accuracy. Even down to the chart -topping musk score. 

Your task is to rid the wortd-and in particular New 
VorkCrty-of a catactysmk plague of ectoplasm k nasties. 

piay it well and we give you a Ghostbusters franchise - 
with your ov^n secret account number Us^ this numberand 
the money it brings you.to buy the same ghost busting gear 
ihey had in the film. (Dorft worry- we'll give yoy some 
money to gel started.) 

You will have earned it And you can use it to go to 
umireamed of levels, Dorft try to use someone else's 
number, well find out. 



Ffom then on, ifs you against the ghosts. All the way 
to the Temple of ZuuL 

Where the final battle begins... 

Designed by USA's David "Pitfall II and Decathlon* 
Crarte and running on Commodore 64 cassette and disk 
and Spectnjm. Coming soon on other systems. 

S^cliVisioN. 

Ybur computer was made for us. 



ftfl^lLABlE FROM SELECTED BRANCHES OF BOOTS. WH SMITH, JOHN MENZJES. LASKTS. SPECTRUM, RUMBROWS, WOOtWORTH 

AND GOOD COMPLJTER SOFTWARE STORES EVERYWHERE. 



48K SinCLAIR ZX SPECTRUn 




r 



^ 







^^ 





ALIEN 8" recommended retail price £9.95 inc VAT 
Available from W.H.SMITMS, BOOTS, J.flENZIES, WOOLWORTHS 
and all good software retail outlets. Also available from 
ULTIHATE PLAY THE GAME, The Green, Ashbydc laZouch, Leicestershire LE6 5JIJ 

(F&F Included) Tel: 0530 41 1485 



48K SINCLAIR ZX SPECTRUPl 



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BBCP10DELB1'2 0S 
48K SinCLAlR ZX SPECTRUM 



48K SinCLAIR ZX SPEaRLPI 






>^*v^ y^ .#» 



COnnODORE 64 



^^^1' Ay^B' I fl 








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KRIGHTIORE ", "UMDERWURLDE ', "SABRF WUlf ", and "ST/irr OF KARPIATH " recommended retail 
pnce £9,95 inc VAT- Available from W.riSMlTH, BOOTS, J.MEPiZIES. WOOLWORTIIS* and all good 
software reUil outlets. Also available from ULTIHATE PLAY THE GAME, The Green. 
AshbydC'la-Zouch, Leicestershire LE6 5JU (FflfP are Included) Tel: 0530 411485 




Following the successful response to the Atic Atac 
(June) and Sabre Wuif (August} map competitions, 
ULTIMATE presents yet another opportunity exclusively 
to CRASH readers to show off their graphic skills. This 
time, together with CRASH, they are running a double- 
barrelled competition, and invite you to send in either a 
map of Underwurtde or of Knight Lore. 



\\ i 




You can send in a map for one of these games, or you can 
enter both compeiitions separately. It s up to you. What 
we don't want is an entry which actually combines both 

games in one map! 

Remember to make your maps as detailed and accurate 
as possible with a key to objects and their uses, hazards 
and physical objects within locations. We are looking for 
well designed and attractive looking maps with clever 
presentation. 




6 SPECTRUM+ COMPUTERS TO BEV 



THE PRIZES 

Firs! Prize in both competitions is a glittering tropfiy, 
similar to those awarded to the winners of the previous 
competitions. Ihe Atic Atac winner received the superb 
Golden Key of ACG, while the Sabre Wutf winners recei- 
ved the ACG Amulet. 

The lucky winners of U/idenvurfde and Knight Lore 
will alsoreceiveasparkling new Spectrum + and a mixed 
bag of If LTIMATE goodies including software, t-shirts, 
hats etc. Second ana Third prize winners in botti categor- 
ies will also receive a Spectrum + and the ULTIMATE 
goodies. 

The winning entries will be published in CRASH at a 
later date. Entries should be sent to: ULTIMATE COM- 
PETITION, CRASH MAGAZINE. PC BOX 10, LUD- 
LOW, SHROPSHIRE SY8 1 DB, to arrive no later than 
the first post January 31 1985. 



I 



68 CBAS^^^"^' 



tmas Special 




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CRASH Christmas SpedaJ 69 



As we promised two issues ago when the Sabre Wulf 
Map Competition results were announced, here is 
the short story which accompanied the entry of 

Charles P. Cohen 

SABRE MAN IN HIS FIRST ADVENTURE 




!!f».l 



There are two casualties of society, 

Those who cannot use a computer, 

and 

Those who live in a Fridge. 

(Chartes Cohen 1t/8/84) 









'^^m 









Chapter 1 



THE stench of the jungfe finally reached my nose tt came as such 

a shock that it took several seconds to reaSis© rts s^mficance 

My eyeballs rolled to tehold the view in a flicker of Neurons my 

pravioyaly in<^tpadtated brain oriented itself to my whereabouts. 

The Jun^ - a deartng df son^ magnitude Trees, plants, blad^ 

iMniii wrth holes in (he middte. bribing with bnstles and cdoyred 

wHhooloui^ 

Within me. something stirred Lundn. I reckoned, but no. rt was 

oftty my hearl beating fast, Fear swept through my body, and out 

of my feet, as a voice, low and fearsome, njmWed through the 

frees- 

"Welcome, mortal, to the stench filled jungle of ACG. ' 

It sounded like Terry Wogan - pefhaps this is Alton Towers. 

I am the guardian of the Jungk and its air treahervef . You have 

been ealected to carry out the task of coiecilm the four pafb of 

the Amulet of ACG. If you oomplele the task be^et you. the 

Amulet, cast in gokti lArillbe awarded to the best rnapper of the 

Jungle 

What do I gel?' I retorted respectfuffy 

The arr fresheneCp infldd However. I irtay also consider releasing 

you. So, mofsej of Swiss Cheese, prepare to be spewed into the 

Jungle/ 

I dfcT not like the Idea of being spewed anywhere, but replied 

cordially, Thank you, Teny. 

Aa I was transported p or whatev^, I am sura I could hear htm 

sobbing. I cttiI ihfnk wt>y - 1 didn't insult him - whoever he was. 



70 CRASH Christmas Special 



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EVERY mu3de in my body seized up as I wm ^liwod into tha 
Jungle. Soon, however, my legs unknon^ fmmi^m and I 
became aware of my surroundings. 

t was in a simitar dearitig to the East one, but with one ma.|or 
ditfarenc^. I was weanng some realty ludicrousclothes. 
Upon my head was a ptth helmet, and I was dad in khaki. My 
instincts toid me I was mad. but the label on the shorts read C* A 
100% Cotton .Figures. Only C&A coutd produce something like 

Next oame another major revelation. Hanging loosely on my tiack 
ifMan etongatad tetter c^pener P&rhaps Mr Wogah isn't so evil 
dtoril- this wiii be useful for opening coconuts and passion tnjti. 
M that time I was still m a daze, bat as surs as eggs are eogs. I 
was not alone. The ground in front ol me heaved and a small hole 
appeared. From it emanated a nasty-k>piong creature, resembl- 
ing n 6pj<ler WWiout tl^iinking l drew my letter opener Stab, stab, 
swipe, schySkl It disappeared. This was not the last time ! woukj 
aee the ihtng. as more appeared all the while, arKi suffered (tie 
same late. 

I noticed something in an aJcove on tie other side of the clearing. 
It toohed remarkat^f^ like a pith hetmet dt ^e sort I had on. sitting 
on a pile of wood 

Gadzpokal - a grave! Afhother unfortunate had also ventured 
here ar^l been reaped^ in a mark of respect I croseed it, but as I 
plckod it up - sf34at - it had gone. 

Aj mat same montem another fiend appeared This time a very 
mous lookirig bush fire, sweeping across the d earing at me^ 
Swking a way out. I dtsHed Watanly throMgh a gap in ihe V999. . 



UPON leavir>g the dearing I met anoltier fellaw human person. I 
first caught sight of him running from the EaSI, waving franticalty, 
with spear and shield. I reasoned that he may have teen in perfi, 
As he approached, a snake-like something appewad di redly in 
hia path. Being the civia and public spihted person that I am, I 
called to him to look out. He seemed to t^e no nolira. and then 
ttad IJhe audacity to walk unharmed over the creature 
Assuming that he understood tiie Queen's Englisfi. I exdaimedp 
Thai s good How do you do it?' 

There came no reply. He just ran at ff^ Again, letting tm inaUncte 
take over, I drew my weapon and slabbed at him. Too mr away. I 
Iriedvertantty returned rny sword to rts sheath, te I dkl all went 
blade, I was thrust backwards ar>d slammed into a wall of trees. 
He was stili advancmo, i stood up. drew my swordly thing and. . . 
Thie bou nder jusi waddled off i n the otiier d irection. 
'Um Bongo, rt uttered jusi as a Hippo passed it. 
Hippopaiamus - a big, purple, hairy lump of an animal, bounding 
towards me like a sioppy puppy. It looked too cute to stab, but 
maintaining my stiff upper lip atlftude, I poked it just for good 
rDeasyre. As it raced by J felt a twinqe of guiH. 
Presentfy I reached a comer, and look it to be faced by yet 
another oomer. As I rounded lh« tatter, rnore nasties appeared. 
this time a scofplon and a rather moronic kxsWng pancw. A short 
slaughter later, I found mysetf headed North, around several 
disorientirig passages ar>d fnto a dearing not unlike the of^ from 
whidi i started. 

Similar, that is, except fof one thing, in the oomer. gNmmerirrg in 
sunlight, wa$ a quarter p^ece o* the extraordinary Amulrt. I has* 
ten^ed towards it. 




THE air was filled wWi i dulcet tune, and the vdce d the guareian 

reappeared- 

One piece is all that you have found, 

cdtect three more and outvyard bound. " 

Very nioe^ Terry, 1 whispered, sarcasticajly; 

Shut up, and get on with your impossible task, crouton features. ' 

At that I was returned to my norma! insane condition and dwar- 

died off. by now feelir>g rather latigued 

So my travels continued . for a shod time anyway, becauaa I came 

across an extremely odd odmefit, m the shape of a very odd 

bottle. Thra botUe was i n the shape of a man , and about the siEe of 

an Action Man, Bravety. I unscrewed the head. Why, I don t kncM, 

t m^^m \m not getting paid for this (you sure armi -fdh Within 

tti^ botrte tay $ liqMid, Goodo - i tttough^ -perhaps it"* tea So I 

drank some 

Extra Lite I ^ tiellowed Terry Wogan. 

Spot onV I replied, not quia knowing what fm mearrt. 

After that brief, but very potgnani encounter, I trotted off apain, 

ftiaiightenng innocertt animals, prodding hippos and wmrtnogs 

and genera% savaging the savages 

Soon I stumbled over something new, A mortstrous flower in the 

middte ot die path. When I first saw il. it was only an iddy little 

tiling, but aa I appnaached rt burst into tkwer, a big yellow oUiu* 

ston onto wtiJch t trod. 

That I regretted For as soon as I SQuastrad it, 1 was left immobil- 

i£ed for an uncomfortable period of t^rT1^e {- So what s newj? 

Still, after my bout of immobsfitis . I was badt on rny Mistered feet. 

ftyir^ along at a cracking pace, unbL . . 




CRASH Chrislmafl Special 71 




'QADZ00KS1' was my first word The shock was so groat I nearty 
tainted. 

M I passed yet another comer. I wateed straight into an enorm- 
ous wolfy thing, spurring and gleepinq and running with great 
pow^ With nowhere !o turn. I drew my letter opener m a pametic 
Last StarxJ. An Englishman shoukl go down fiqhting I did too 
As I cascaded across the undergrowth. I half axpeclod to see 
Twry Wogan descending fiom the Irees. reJ easing upofi the tout 
creature the wrath ol ten thousand mulant space invaders To the 
contrary . however, he just laughed and oomm«rted to 1h« ©«©ct 
thai I was mcompelent What a liberty" I shall never listen to his 
radio program again* Satxe Wutf irxleed! 
Wh«n I had got over rhat minor irauma, I meeblad off again and 
eventually reached a forbidding mountain rar>ge. How I managed 
to reach tt>ere. I don t know - the Jkjr^le is more contusing than 
IheBftrUcaii. 

After obtainirig another potion thingy. ] dambered along the Side 
Of the mountains, hopmo for a way out. Sure enough, mece was 
one, btrt before I tooh tt, Iran into another triffidy thing, this tim^e a 
Uueone 

Whiz^o' - 1 became super fast ar>d invulnerable* Ooui)Ja Whizzo! 
I speed off at double speed, all over ihe place, and prvaenuy 
anived at a nasty's hut. The ttoor was open, but on tiyirig, n 
appeared ) could not get in U dedded to wait (or tea lime, when I 
was sura they would retum. tHio^^^er. none appeared, so I 
thought it better to deparl. 





IT is now a long time since I wrote tost Sirice then I have obtained 

a tuFlfier two parts ol the Amutet 

Each time I get a new piece, Terry Wogan cuts in with his lune arxJ 

pie^ ol inane poetry I never knew he had it in him. Come to think 

of il. t wish rd never found out 

I ve found plenty of ttitngs around here. Little ponds are all over 

tt>e place, but I donl have any swimming shorts, so am unable to 

battle. Ojects of alt sorts are i n abu nda nee , 

As regards lood. f ve been realty d^sappoinlad by Uie lack of 

exotic fruits, and women are m short supply too. Or* that account I 

wouldn t ws^ ihis place to my mo<fier-in4aw. For some (Percy 

Thmwup) this place b parad^a. Being ai) avid watcher of his 

gardening spot on Blue Paler, Tva bean able to identiry m^ty 

rants, 
have discovered three dfl^fwt Irtlld variants One. a vfle 
mauve, oaus^ whdesale dia-orlantaion^ It tak^ a real mental 
effort to do anytfiing in this state There are red ones loo. which 
slow or^ down and make om i nvuhterabie lor a short time This is 
all very well but, as a matter of painotism, Vd rather be dead tftan 
red. 

The firiat tnffid plant is the most bonng. It returns one !o one's 
normal usalau mode, in my opinkvi that's not on Jt r>ever fiap- 
pened 1o Tarzan 

My present posilion js in a comer bordered on one Side toy a slone 
wall Perhaps It is the lair d Wo^n If I get ihere with all tour 
pieces of his wdiait. peftiaps he wtti lend me his air fresherief = 





EUREKAl - I ve found ttf The firtal qu^er of the Amy I- wotsttt 

Now to fifxi the keeper chappie Ihe final chapter, the erxl, finis 

etc Ut soon be free to go t^ack to my modest Mt in tslinglon and 

read the Financial Tlnii^ with my slippers on" Spitting - what? 

I m nigh certain thai Terry is srtuated in the cave to my left. I can 

see r! now - the frofit page of the Daily Telegraph -Islington 

Business Man Escapes Standi Filled Jungie of AQG. 

Perttaf^ an O. B E is m order. Me - an 0. 8 E. - peihaps even a 

Kinghttorehood Here it is. the cave. The Guardian's Lair! Nearty 

there Oooh 

WfK) are youT 

I'm ttte Guardian of the air freshener of the gate. ' 

You're no^ t^ry Wogaji?' 

Terry wfrio? I see you have the whole dl the Amulet. Good. You 

may advanoe ' 

Does this mean I can go home to my wife, overc^afi and 

O.B.E. r 

Certainly rxrt/ 

I say, tfvat's not cricket - \m a British dti^en, I command oertajn 

rights. I — ' 

Shut up you posh liw#rp. I don t cmre it you're the Queen's unda. 

You re going Of*. ' 

Whereto?' 

ThQ Underwurlde, " 

te Terry Wo9an there?" 

English cretin. Wtiat s he got asairiia the Iridh?' 




And so ended the fast page of Uie Orsrfes P Cohen diaries. 

which were found tytng outside th^ ca^e of the Guardian by 

aroffter poor toot h^d had passed through f^e Jungle on hts way 

to Gfie Underwurld&. He mmagBd to Data Post it to us befc^e so 

going 

Where are tftey now, fhese heroes ? Wopp^g around in their ^uits 

0/ wrnouf, no doubt, mapptrtg books and ai&nes m hand. 



72 CRASH Chrishnas SpeciaJ 



I 



NOW on 48K Spectrum 




The ultimate 

underground 

adventure 

Supert) scroll routine, described bv exDerts as one o 

the best pieces of Spectrum programming ever 

Sixteen mystical caves. 5 levels of pla\ 

joystiek or Keyboard option* 

One of ttie toughest tests of strategy and ref lexe- 

ever! starring "Rockfofd" m the incorrigibi* 

burrowing bug in his restless quest for gleanninc 

lewels 

U.S. Reviews 

'. . . Boulder Dash should be Jeading contender j 
for anybody s actlon-game^-the vear award"! 
Burt Hochberg CAMES Magaxfne 

■■. , . a magical mix of challenge, charm and 
originality . , . easily one of the best computerj 

games of the vearq 
Michael Branchet Chicago irtbune Syndicate 

This game will be mentioned in my wilf 
. . what silicon Is and integrated circuit! 

were always meant to be . . , subtle bniiianc? 

and unceasing magic ... in a class by ttself . . :\ 
craig Holyoak Deserec N< 

'First Star has done a f ^rstrate K 
on BOULDER DASH . . the graphic 
are dazzling . . . 
The video Came upd: 

'BOULDER DASH takes the cake . , . th( 
overall quaNrv i<, excellent 
John SIcoog K-^Power Magazii 

This one' 
hot for xmas 



FIRSF 





OFTUUnREuti: 




To: Prorft Rimmt, iC-*oft «ttHbitttori, 
iM WMt#rn Av«iHft. itm^m wi Oni 



CW.D2-BD 



C7.flS ilHiMMigWT 



H\i5Jh me_ 



.Tapets) 



HAtm 



Address 



Postcodt. 



TetephQfw. 



i encio^ a ch«qii«/PO made pavat^ to 
Pt-»fc dtstn&uiiion for £ ^ 



jpoA f reel 



Of debit mv Ate ess v visa* 

I ^DuKS like t£_hyar news of mort Frort[ ffunner 

releases t 1 ves ^a:^ a^to* 21 dayi for a*iiv*rv 





BO-U'L-D-E-R 



BOULDER 
DASH 

Producer: Front Runner 
Memory required: 48K 
Retail price: £7.95 
Language; nfiachioe code 



Front Rumiir, the soflwere 
marking organisation dl 
K-Tdl. hafi h&fB released an 
American program wtiirfi has 
tieen oonverta<l tof ih© Spec- 
trum. I! was ofiginalty a big hit 
in the States lor Firat Star Ice 
the Atari It IS also a veiy 
unusual game, itiat regies on a 
Simple ooncept with gompliBK 
ram jfi cations. 

You pi 1^ the stanring fol# of 
Roddofd. a gem oollwtof in a 



seflM of 16 underground 
€m*rn&. leflefed A to P^ You 
Otfi elect to play from cavss A. 
E, I or M on diffiailty levets 1 to 
3, or from A only on lavds 4 
and 5. Difficuiy refleds on the 
number ol )0wols to be col- 
lacted and the time limit 
allowed, 

Tha basic gome piay is not 
unJike thosa Digg^f games 
whece you burrow through the 
aarth dropping bouldacs on 
nastiee. but that puis it aJl loo 
simpiy , There are a oreat many 
oombi nations avaiTaWe bet- 
ween all Ihe screens which 
usas elements o1 boulders, 
earth which can be removed p 
gems and sevomi types of 
raaty which oh^e you. 
Removing the earth from 
under a boulder will cause it to 
fall down, but one boulder 
stacked on top ol another will 
also topple off. so you must 
take great care, and of course 
this immediately aOds a 
simtegic element to the game. 
On one soreen you have to 
create space for an annoeba to 
grow, then r^ease a load of 
butterflies from a lower portion 
of the cave which turn to gem 
stonae when they meet the 
amoebae - the proWem being 



3 




"Ocks and ftocfcs fOf n«Mo»d 



thai the butlerfltes kilt Rock- 
ford This gives a simple 
example of what the game ie 
like 

Each cave Is several times 
larger than the screen ptaying 
area and the screen aLrto- 
nieil^l^y scrdls to keep pace 
with Rockford as ha moves 
iriXNJt, shovelling earth and 
moving bouWers Additionally 
there are lour short intereui^ve 



puzzles which you mB entitled 
lo piey after oompleiing caves 
D^H.LandP. 

CRmasw 

• 'What a strartge garrie this 
Is at fint. wrth no obvious con- 
neclion to anything else I've 
ever seen. The idea is MHIy 
erKl completely onglnal - a 



1 



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NEW CYLON ATTACK 



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wltrd Mtm ct strategy, for- 
mmti fMmlm and arcade skNI 
mn the qyalitfM na&d&d to play 
thdt gm^. H you don't possess 
OTt el these skills, then forgai 
It 1 f ou r>d BotJHfBf Ds^tt 
immensely enjo^e, not 
bactuM ol its originality and 
ifvlwd sense of humour, but 
bK&Lisa of its compulsive play- 
ing ickiU. It's a haig time since 
rv0 played a ganie as absorb^ 
Ing aa this. You tend to get 
tibt&mmi with it. Graphics are 
dllwirt. to say the least, 
brtghl and detailed Sound is 
continuous with plenty of spo4 
eKeots An incredibly addicflva 
Mme and well worth byying. 

• Bouidw Dash i$ ^ptfy 
naruBd! Ai Hfst sight it looks 
tikB a mmbor ot omBr dfgging 
gmnm WHt #te grBf^ics doo't 
fmrnediBt^Strine you B$ extra 
spBoBl Pfaying ifie game 
convmce^ otherwr^e. kWtftM 
mmufes / was sucked tnto it 
and houfE went by, Boulder 
Dashf$ a bnlti&nt program with 
a mean streak a mit& wtde in it. 
Thme is one partioutar room ft ' 
I think) which had me working 
fof atfnost two hour^ without a 
bm^tobmtibi^mi$mma<^ 




humour BssfcMyyoureleesB 
a piBca of eaurtfi mm & hoh on 
top ol a targe chamber and for 
fte ne)(t few seconds gems 
and tK^vtder^ cascade dovm 
m a vmy realistic fashion, tt is 
then a case ot packing your 
way round to get at the gems 
without being sauashBd by a 
b<M/kter. Very c/ever, amai- 
ingty, dangerousty addic^e, 
Boulder Dash shoofd keep 
everyone going for ages and 
ages. ' 

m This amazlno gam* Is m 
simple, ft s hdioiloua! Yatonoa 
atartad Wa impossible to tsava 



R. Rocfcfofd is amusinaly ani- 
mated, tapping his foot in 
boredom if you keep him sta/xl- 
ing still foe too long, ayes flick- 
ing nefvot^ly, as well they 
might wfth all ttiat we^ht of 
stone above h)s haadl The 
moyement of txxj^lders and 
gems is so logical, vrf^en huge 
stacks of tf)em fall tfiat it can be 
a joy to watth, witti the ive skill 
levels and 1 6 screens to play 
through, this game represeols 
good value even tor the slightly 
nigh pnce; ar^ I can raoom- 
mang it to anyone. It's excel- 
lent and tremendously com- 
pelllpg to play. ' 




COMMBfTS 

Control kaya: E. 0/F. K 
upiaown, M, XfSYta, C 
leftthght, N,VofBto fire, or 
£jse Ifie cursors and S 
Joysti^^ Kempston, Sindak 
2. Prolek.AGF. Fuller 
Keyboard play: responsiva, 
plenty of options 
Use ot colour: eicc^lent. very 
unusual combinations 
Qraphica: unustial, genemlly 
excellent 
Sound: e^celient 
ShIlllevelaiS 
Lives: 3 
5creaiia:16 
General rating: highly 
addictive arK) playable, 
original and good value, highty 
recommended. 



Uaa of Gomputw 91 % 

Graphics 90% 

Ptayabillty 96% 

Gatting started 89% 

AddictJve qualitida 98% 

Valua for fnonay 90% 

Overall 93% 



1 



1 






Alien Spaceships (O.K, so wtiat's new!) A'n'F have updated Cylon Attack 

(a very sought after game) so popular that A*n'F had great difficulties to improve the 

game, but they have done it. Cylon Attack is now in isometric 

perspective. Imagine playing new Cyton Attack in 

isometric perspective (3D), £5,75 

NiW FOR SI^BCTRUM ^m^ ^^^^ mm. 

ANOTHER RIVETING GAME ( MfiAfi^n^ \ fcNUmSBllJhgxi] 

FR0MA*nT 

A&F Software, Units, 



SPECTRUM 48k— Other gam«s a vsllablo: 
Chueliie Ejgg— £6.90. Alpha-Bath £5J5 



Canai Side Industrtal Estttt, 

WoodbkM Strwt East, Rochdale OLiesLB 

Talayhone: Rochdate 341111 




CYCLONE 

producer: Vortex 
Memory required: 48K 
Retail pric«: £5.95 
Langyage: machine code 
Author: Coftta Pa nay i 



Sequets are all the mM« arvd 
why not if they work ww? Vor- 
tex here are following up their 
jet fighter 3D game TLL, bui 
there are b few important dit- 
fefwiow 10 the former game 
For a stari ot! Cydone features 
a helicopter (also atm rage at 
01# morneni!) er>d you are ndl 
apping roufKl dots, but more 
UMMty rasc^irig people froiit 
ouiylng l^ncte and coHeding 
valuable boxes tjy usiriQ the 
wific^ and catAs from the 
helicopter. 

As in TLL the playing area Is 
quite large and a map is pro- 
vided, whi€h shovvs the Base 
islarKJ set in ttie rmklle of a sea 
dotted with groups of small 
islands. Onc^ again, author 
Cksta Panayi has drawn in the 
ctetail with a blocky shaded SD 
which describes the islarrds. 
ttie relief on them, the buiid- 
Ifigs. and me shadow of th« 
machine itseff on the ground 

Apart from the view ot the 
playing area (which can be 
seen from th© North or the 
South point of view as the 
player desires), there are the 
essential irtstrxjmonts done as 
bar codes whidi amanatlMiido 
Indicdtor, speedometer, fuel 
and time left. There are also 
Two other importani indicators, 
orte for airoafl and one for 
wind force In Cychn^ you vrili 
encounter low ftylr>g Jet9 
(hlfiging arour>d from trie base 



in TLL no doubt) with which you 
may weli coJlKJe On the m^p a 
reif cyclone can be seen weav- 
ing around the area in its pro^ 
Mknrty the cbsturbance will 
affect handling ot the helicop- 
ter and may cause you 1o 
o^ash. Winchir>Q up crates or 
people is done by centnng the 
machine over the object and 
descending to a low level, 
wereupon the winch will auto- 
maticaliy iower the cable arKl 
autD^rmticatly cdled Vne 
object. 

cnmciSM 

• 'Cycfone Sports may of 
TLCs features such as the fab 
graphics but the main dif- 
^ence this time is thai you fly 
a heliccpter in^ead of a jet 
The style of play is very similar 
to that of TLL As sequels go I 
fe)t there wasn't enough dif- 
ference between the two 
games to warrant your getting 
Cychoe rf youVe already aot 
TLL, though Cyclone \S still a 
good game witnin its own right. 
It's got all the makir^s of a fab 
game but in my opinion rt ts just 
not exerting encNugh - may^ 
the antroductton of a fire button 
would have helped (I'm a sad« 
isl you see). Overall, a good 
game but lad^ real advanom 
over TLL." 

• After JiJL my ^jtp^mtims 
were none loo high (or mis fst- 
asf i^ease Cyclone; becat^^e ' 
w» one of those who though 
tflAf the former game lacked in 
conteot and things to do / was 
proved to be wrong Cydone 
ftas much more contmt with 
plenty to keep you busy and 
mtm&st^ for quite a while 
Grephics seem to be an 
mpfovemmt over TLL with 



more 3D depth and shadow- 
ffig Normal an<J bnght func- 
tions or) the computer were 
herdty used to gtve the iHuston 
of 3u. instead ink shadowing 
has be&n used and seBms ro 
work tar better The heltcoprsr 
ts well drawn and det&ited 
Rotor bfades wh>H round and 
give an excellent impression 
of rotating movement One 
thing thet I must say mat has 
worked exceptionally well i$ 
U^e cyclone effect, giving your 
hetid^ter a rough r^de. I fika 
the addibon ot jets whizzing 
past you on occasion. 



^^ W 




at^ough it can be confusing to 
tmow which way to go to avoid 
Ihem. Colour and sound have 
been used realistically . Over- 
aX a far better game than TLL 
with much nKte confenf and 
playability - a distinct 
improvemer^, ' 

• The helioopter ts very 
good, the way the rotors go. 
and rt's vefy detailed, in par- 



I tjcutar ihe ah^ow on ttM flur* 
I face of the aea or groimd ie 
eMoe^lent I also like the way 
you have to wresiie with the 
controls when you are near the 
cyclone - very real rstic. The 
use of the North and South 
views IS useful, especially 
when boxes are hidden on a 
beach under a cliff, ard this 
forces you to search for Ihem a 
bit rr>ore. The graphics are very 
good and miake playing the 
game more interesting. Col- 
lecting refugees arxj crates is 
actually more eKcitir^g than 
zapping dots was in TLL, but 
generalty t don't think it is very 
addkaive because there isnt 
enough action involved, " 

coMMerr$ 



Control keys: 1 /O uptown, 

0/P left/Fight, X for forward. M 

for map 

Jeymtick: Kampslon, Sinclair 

2.AGF.Protek 

Keytioard play: very 

responsive, well positioned 

Use of colour: excellent 

Graphics: eMcelleni 

Sound : very good 

Skill ttvtr*! progfMsive 

drfficutty 

Lives: 3 

Screens: scrolling 

Special feat urae: 

General rating: cormidered to 

be more fun than TLL and very 

pi«y^»lep tHJt perhape ladung 

a little in lasting appeal. 



Use of com puter 81 % 

Graphkica 84% 

Rayabillty 76% 

Getting started 79% 

Addictive quallttee 73% 

Value for money B1 % 

Overall 79% 



76 CRASH Christmas Special 



THE ADVENTURE EVENT OF THE YEAR BY 

JOHN SHERRY 

Cf)c prince 

WINNER OF THE 1 984 CAMBRIDGE AWARD 



Ctjaractcrs in ortjcr oOppcarancc: 
l^aton (Grasper — a lantiaU)ntr 
fy^ 'i^ gtmbrose — a cleric 

^Porcug — a mercljant 

jftrnanbo — a tipstaff 

t '""■■'■"'*' 

plus supporting cast 



anb finallp 








THE FIRST ROLE PLAYING GAME FOR FOUR PLAYERS 

Available for Spectrum 48K at E7 95 from larger branches o( Boots or miail order from ^3C 
Cases Computer Simulations Ltd., 14 Langton Way, London SE3 7TL ^SBSSS^ ^^5 



Telephone 01 -858 0763 



jff^ 




f 




100 GAMES OF WAR, 
ADVENTURE & STRATEGY 
TO BE WON!! 

From the masters - C. C. S. 



'I 


«Cf, 


5) 


IS 
S5 



C. C. S. have an abating range of war. adventure and strategy 
games on the rrtarket at the moment. INSURGENCY is a 
wargame for two players, and simulates modeni warfam In 
some of the woff d's hotest spots such as Antral AiBarica or 
tht Far East. TTiere are nnor e than 1 00 differefit t>attiefief ds to 
choose from. 



AOv^- 



K u 




In AIA DEFENCE you play ttie rote of a>mmand«f of Mr 
Defences, and the objective is to fend off attacks on yoijr 
squadrons by enemy aircraft. 



SUPERPOWER is for 1 - 6 players, each of whom runs the 
intelligence agency of a major wodd powef . Coups, espionage 
and assassination are alt part of the game as you struggle to 
protect your assets in a contirtent ol developing countries. 



BLUE RIBAND simulates the <»nlrois of a motw-ferry. and 
your tMk is to navigate the vessel through nan^ow river 
diannels using the ship's radar. 



THE PRINCE is a strategy game fof four players, pitfirkg theif 
wrts against no less than 1 7 computer players". The oompulef 
generates difficuHies and it is up to tf^e players lo conspire to 
solve them: deception and skullduggery make for a 
machiavellian' type atmosphere . 



THE STAFF OF ZARANOL Is an adventure game in whioh 
vou. the Sorcerer's apprentice, release an evil demon. Can you 
banish him before the return of your master? There are 45 
different locations, severl contacning dues to help you capture 
the demon. 



BAR ROWOUEST features Grimblast, a Wack wzard. and 
Sartrak. a white wizard, battling for possession of a Power Gem 
known as Sartrak s Stone Grim blast and his clan have 
captured the Stone, and the task of Sartrak is to reoovar tt 



In 1942 MISSION you are In the shoes of a British Agent whose 
ol]|ect7ve Is to penetrate a German camp and make off with the 
secret Rocket Fuel plans. You begin by parachuting into 
Germany. 



NUKE LEAR and TOMB OF AKHENATEN are two games in 
the Charlie Charlie Sugar budget range. Nuke Lear involves 
storing drums of nuclear waste for safety ^ But beware p some of 
them have a tendency to fall rnto illegal caves where they will 
contaminate the environment In Akhenaten you are the seeker 
after the lost treasure of the Pbaroah Akhenaten, venturing into 
the labyrinth of tunnels beneath the pyramid. Look out for the 
Spirit of the labyrinth t 




GHJEYSKBD 
FLOIHSURG 
liYTJWIPJLS 
HEESUFERP 
EHLPTVVWQ 
PTTLOAPPH 
RBGajSPKI 
I P A J W Q A P J 
HDDROIUYO 
CGP]}R6JKX 
EJQWEOSSD 
FHTYEWWPP 
UIOPIiKDQA 
WYTTRWRIU 
fOMBOPAitH 
EHGDIIPLY 
KBVIKDENI 
SHOOT THEM 
BTIPLJGD 
TLASTIVE 



C 

A 



INSURGENCY 
AIR DEFENCE 
SUPERPOWER 
BLUE RIBAND 
THE PRINCE 



VSQRIPLDRF2 

ENCYQU0ALL4 
HQCKKBESAH9 
0WER&LXBLC1 
AZXTEUPLYTN 
IWAKV/BAXKLO 
OnUTIRYWQQI 
JKAHAILLYDS 
WWW T USPS PJS 
PDASAAVDCAI 
GZLLUNVCXZM 
UIAGJDSAAEO 
AQWRSGJDETY 
XCXBAMNMVCB 
ENATENVTIPP 
tJSDADAOWAITf 
SBfCBCXLWWE 
ALLBOWIfOlCAY 
WAIRDBPBHCB 
PINISHEDITT 

THE STAFF OF ZARANOL 

BARR0W0UE5T 

1942Mt$SI0N 

NUKE LEAR 

TOMB OF AKHENATEN 



I|l0!t< ..„ V ^ .,.,», i ,,*.«** p , 




Mdrtts *.**.. i . * 






lfeH«**a4l*««ii-feA«kf«#>ff«l*alah..._^..... POBICQUiC <■■■■«»■.•#«■•* 4 


PltiM tick tfie aam« ol your cholc* - fOrmt rtbiriMd without « tick tiriU 

IWttM^lld. 

p msuReetcY D the staff of uranol 

n WR DEFENCE D MRROWOUEST 
D SUPERPOWER D 1^2 MISSION 
Q BlUE RIBAHD D NUKE LEAR 
DTHE PRlMtt a TO«B OF AKHEIttnN 



THE COMPETITION 



C, C. S. have a hundred cassettes feafuring all these titles to 
9tv6 away. If you would like to be one of the 100 lucky winners 
and select a game of your choice from the list atrave. atl you 
have to do is study the grid below and find the ten titles named. 
Eight are strategy, adventure and wargames - two from the 
Charlie Charlie Sugar' budget range. They are hidden in the 
maze of letters and you can (ind them by readinQ horizontal^, 



vertically, diagonally and even backwards. 

Once you have found them all (use the iist at the side to help 

you) cut out the grid (or photocopy it) and send it with your 

name and address to: 

C. C. 5. COMPETITION. CRASH MAGAZINE, PC BOX 10, 

LUDLOW, SHROPSHIRE SY8 1 DB» to arrive no later than 

first post January 1 d 1 985. 

CFUSH aihstmas Special 79 



stitg^ 




VOLCANO 

Pfoducaf : Computm 

Magic 

Mamory require: 4flK 

Ratal! price: £7.95 

Language: mochifie code 



The object d Volcmo is lo 
e&cBpe from an errupting - 
wei\, volcano. The game is 
Cjutta diffefem because it 
Involves many diff©f©fit 
laments across forty screens 
above ground Bnd mm 290 
b9low9found. 

In a SBfiBB it \s a giant 
flrephic adventure, wh«f» vou 
oorvfrd your man, guiding him 
around tto streets of the 
thraalarwd toivn, seeking 
usefut objects from the 
building. Fai|jf>g molten rocks 
are shown as red tikt^ which 
app^ on the rnapscapes. 
While rivers of red lava slowly 
eogu[f the roadways, making 
your task increasingly difficult. 
Generally, you must esc^e to 
feach a t>oaT e^nd flee the 
natufii wrath behind vou. 
There are several maps of ttie 
town, with an animated 
charadef which you control. 
THere is the medieval cHy with 
its vflnous predicts, the com- 
m^erdal section an6 shipping 
section: below the dly there 
exists a maze ol undergroui>d 
passages which are shown in 
wire frame 3D. Back above 

ground, yout route to freedom 
t bkicked by dangerous 
marri)ee and jungt^, and 
even beiofB leaving ttie c% 
you may enoounler rtots and 
get killed 

Useful objects are things like 
dynamite for blcwlng rocks out 
or the way or matc?ies which 
wli enable you to see your way 
underground Food is also 
essential to keep up strength, 
which wanes rapidly. 
Movement c^xitrd is by iew 
right rotation and forwards 





below ground r with four w^ 
movemefil atKjve ground, 
WhMsl perBJntHJlating beloM 
Itie surfa«. it is well to 
reiT^mt>er that above ground 
the vdcano is still errupttng. 
blocking the town's streets with 
debfis. 

Vofcano has a rar>dom 
element buiti into the pfogram 
so that, except for the first 
three screens, dynamite, lava, 
rocks, food arid ropes wili 
rarely appear in the same 
place twice. Sconng is ctone by 
tune alive. 

CRmasM 

• Volcano Is a totaMy 
fffferent type of game. I caj> 
honesMy say I haven't played 
anything tike ft before. As a 
game il isn't megd-briti, but ft 
isnt mega-a«tomks eitw. 
The graphics are simple but 
serve their purpose. The 
attraction of this game is that 
tt>ere is a lot to it. there are 
numerous screens to be dis- 
covered Vo/cafio is quite fun 
to play, but I did find it a bit 
repetetfve after a while. It has 
aome nice features such as. 
when you die it tells you how 
long you've been playing, 
wtilTe pisying a catchy tune. 
The 30 yrderg round maze 
looks uncannily like those 3D 
mazes you used to gel from 
ZX81 games and some ea/fy 
! Spectrum games, but this 
' staqe becomes very repetetive 
and ton rfcg after a while. Over- 
a9l quite a good game but I 
friink it's got limrted appeal " 

• 'The main appee' of 
Vdtoano/r^ in its s/?eer sub, 
bec&Wi$ the graphics me not 
the soft thef m&ke you want to 
toy CiompulstVi^y. Ag&m, 



dmpim its size, you ar& c^x^- 
fronted quite quickly by ^e 
inesca^paWe fact that its afl 
been se^> before on a smaifer 
Bcafe The finked screens at 
f^e town make a targe maze, 
where yov weste tirne by 
going off the screen on a road 
only to find that tfs a dead end 
on meni^xt one. Herein lie& me 
meal of the game, getting 
around fast enough t^tore U\b 
¥\ray$ are block0d to get aft the 
things you need to swrv^ve / 
foond Volcano was quite 
pfeyable but not addictive 
She^r Sim of a program isn't 
whet mekss a wihnsf. and 
when you get doy^ to it there 
isn't entHigh going on in the 
game to offer lasting appeal. 

• 'Strange game this. It 
seems to nave a mixiure of 
adventure and strate9y and a 
good memory is required The 
game seems to be of a very oM 
type, acx:ordino to the 
OTflphics. arthough essentially 
me^ are adequate. Many 
points d this garm are unfair; 
one rrkajor example is when 
yoM fall down a hde into the 
ufKlerground passageways !f 
you are lucky, you will get three 
matches to enable you to see 
the map that you collect when 
you fall down the hole. This 
map shows you the way to the 
exit and also the starting 
position, but unfortunately, and 
unfairly, it doesn t show you 
your preserrt posttionK so in 
many oases it is totaltv 
useless. Lighting a match 
enables you to see the map for 
apprmcimatefy five semnds - 
hardly enough time to focus on 
the map, sum up where the 
start and nnish positions are. 
and then guess where you are 
rm sure mia part of the game 



reQulias you to have a photo- 
gn^Mc memory, not very 
helpful for 99 99 of the pEayers. 
H you have unfortunately fallen 
down one of these holes you 
seemingly need no food, which 
now m^ans untess you Rnd 
your way out of this impos^ble 
maze of tunnels, you II be 
doomed to stay tfiere for the 
rwt of your life (unless you turn 
ttie computer oil ) Pertmps this 
ovef-pnced game should be 
r»-wnt!en to allow for the 
novice player to have much 
more fun white p laying this 
game - a quit key woukt be 
moat useful. ' 

COMMENTS 

Control key«: Q^A up/down ^ 
0/P lefl/righ! (above grournJ), 
6/B rotate left right, 7 move 
forwards (below ground). C - 
colled, E eat. X explode 
dynamKe. r swing on rope 
Joysttek: not stated 
Keyboard play: nut over 
responsive, but well faW out 
Use of colour: average 
Graphics: small, simple, 
below average 
Sound: good tune 
Skill levela: 1 
Uvea: 5 

Solent: ^^Ophjs 
Gen#r«| r«tlng: a very targe 
game, but generally below 
average, especially at the 
price. 



Uae of computer 54% 

Graphics 44% 

Pfsyabillty 49^a 

G«ttlng started 60^4 

Add ict i ve qu a M t i es 46% 

Va I ue for money 33% 

Ovemll 45% 




POLE 
POSITION 

Produoer: Atarisoft 

Mtmory rsqylred; 4aK 
Retail price: £7.99 
i^TQuagB. machlno code 



At last, the long-awaHed Spec- 
tfum vefsion mpn® of the mosi 
ftmcujs arcad© ortpinals ever - 
Alans Pole Posnion . There 
wefi© njFTXKjr^ eariier in tf>e 
year ihal Atajisoft had 
reienddthe game. It was seen 
M the Earls Court ConnfMiter 
Fair in Septernber and almost 
Immediately wtlhdfawn aftef 
HTfavoyreble comment from 
eritica preeefrt. 

TTia frac* pidure is rec- 
Q^nisably mai of 1iti« arcade 
original, wHh the attemating 
redf and while stripes on the 
road md^, striped centre line, 
mcsvifiQ hiils in the tmdKground 
and a long perspectrve which 
has the road moving from skJe 
to aide depending on the car's 
position on i1. Road signs also 
Bdt\o the CNiginal amj provide a 
dinger to mose who go oti the 
roedr. 

You're up against tots of other 
lacers on the road The game 
commences from the start grid 
vrfth 8 countdown. First you 
mutt qui^ - 90 sectXKJs in 
#idi yoij myet achieve a lap 
time of better than 73 seconds 
to get onto the real race. If you 
hit another car or a hazard you 
iKpMe and this loses you 
predous time No matter how 
mmy times you crash you 
itcerve ai>o(her cas- until the 
OJHidayins time has run out. 
CofilFol irvdudes letl and right, 
brake and diarige of ^ears 
b«wa^ hi Bf^ low Sconng ia 
tiy lap speed and SO points per 
carpnaed. 

cnncisM 

• "B seems Ironic^ that the 
original game that has inspired 
io many versions on th© Spec- 
trum should be the last to 
appear (at least I eo^ped it's the 
last - there may be more 
sophistioited veraioTO to 
arrive yet)^ H also means ttmt 
Atorisoft have a big job on the*r 
hands berause a tew ot the 
vtniona have been eKcellent 
(Fyff ThfoWe for ifistance)- 
Ptofe Pasiti<^ has managed to 
look very kike the arcade orig- 
iral, wftlch is good, but it 
doeanl play anyming tike as 
w^. Perhaps mis isn1 sur- 
prising, but I thought the con- 




trol of (he car^ overaiL was a bit 
rough. The inlay has straiegy 
tips on how to use gears, 
brakes and the inskle lai>e 
wherever possit>ie, but this 
tsn t relleoteci in what you see 
on the teraen. The road, for 
Instance, scrolls past at the 
same speed, wfiataver speed 
your car is ddng. whidi isnl 
very rea iistic ; ano ! thoug ht the « 
car fiaJxJIinig was a bH slupgtsh, 
wtiems in ihe original it was 
very akitflsh. and ^erefofo 
more exciting The graphics 
are Ol a high standaid, espe- 
daity your vehide^ and gfon- 
erally PqIb Position is enjoy- 
able/ 

• At l&Sl its BrrivBti^ SinCB 

spring /Ve t>e*T waiting to see 
this game wh&a it wbs titst 
aiiveftmed - nea/^y eteven 
r7»oni!hs iatm, fm Bctuaffyptay 
ing it Was it wofth it, you might 
say? Wett, its (fte first racmg 
gan^B /Ve sew wJffi mutb- 
cofoufBd graphics that work 
and aecmt sr^etf computet 
controttBd cafs to race 
against 3D prespect^e is 
pretty good, I iik& th& way tfre 
colours of (he race track alter- 
OMte from rB^ to wf}if& tQ giye 
an imprmsion of movement, 
fd hardly call this game Vote 
Position though, beoatssa ft is 
only a race track and doesn't 
go through the i/afious 
scer^arios as arcade Pote 
Position' does. I can't see the 
point of having a spaadometer 
in this game oecause no mat- 
ter how high your speed is, (fte 
ground pregres^es at the 
same spaed that you started 
at. the ority tfpfferenc^ being 
that you slide further on cor- 
nets, t dont reatty think it was 
worth fhe etevan month wM, 
as in that tima severai o^er 
facing games ha\^a appeared 
that are equally good, it not 



better, andbmidBS, it is toMfy 
over-prioed. ' 

• The 3D effect In Pole Pos- 
ition Is Quite pleasing with Ihe 
myftf^oohoured mountains In 
tie bftdcgfound creating a 
aenae of space, and the road 
disappears satisfactority. But 
the ^D animation of the other 
caiB is a (itHe bit jerky - 
signposts seem to hang 



I around rather a long while 
before finally flashing past. On 
the dihef hand Ihey are aJI vecy 
detailed, whidi miAes it dtf- 
llcult to animate fully Car con- 
trol is not ov^-respcnsive - of 
peitiapa it would be more fair lo 
say that the ijaok do^;n1 seem 
to respond as well as your oar 
movemefrtt h also seems a 
shame that it lakee so lonq to 
aooatarate - surety this vehicle 




Pbr^aG 




For uMOfi 

4dK 
SPECTRUM 



Acciaimod thm best footbaU simutation game.... 

'^^ pnfTH U iidiielLvt.Lut bI#iI I apiiat turn. U,lKa^b, tm %l,yif^m^ 



*I mmi iM4a«imtM£4lMi r^ m «6 #vl4iADdi«w pw* w«I] warifa fviiT prtq^* 
'nf *^ *^ ifTw^jwA 1a Aualnill* uv i»lL4|it4d. .,* CM^i.^oaiUkcr of thoB 
*1 Uuniflhl I ■b«iiU ic^l* fcPDM^i *f fvur HHllMt ^M.«^Mr.ilBfi.(W JiM«3 

Note thm fottowing truo-to4/f# iMturms,,.. 

• - Fui 1 1 ' »-$i0i flvitch lelion 






A ^Iri 






timiplifid 







):&-:( 






tB30 
(inc. p. A p.) 

CROSS SOFTWARES) ta^^R 

72 Swanshope, 

Burney Drive, 

Louahton, Essex. IG10 2NB 






IW 
Mtfintlpt 

m Alio totm mm >**f w* 



your Qwtipiayfti'S' 



A|u Avjiiii^bb» from ^nittciml 

4lOr«a in Ihg lofidon afftA 

[inclydm^i VIROIH OAMES 

CEItTHE Oxford Stfie«t,W 1 



CRASH Oiristmas Special 81 



I SKY RANGER 

Producsf : Microsphere 

Memory required: 48K 
Retail price: E5.95 
Language: mwhine code 



There ie a grafitti artist in Mio- 
fMfrtwe's Sko^ DazB who 
¥ffttai on the bladdx}ard 
iomettiing lo the effect that 
Sky Ranger is ^eat - a nea! 
piece of pr©S)ubHdty for their 
eeoond relsase. Sky Ranger is 
ft heltoQpfer We've remarked 
belore in CRASH how odd it is 
If^t software companies tend 
to have similsr Ideas at the 
same time, btvA there are a few 
helicopter scermhos anxind or 
in thejrfpaline. 

Sk^ Ranger is sftuMed in a 
Ime cHy full of shyscrapeis, 
wtwDh allows for plenty of wire 
fname 30. The 3D used hers, 
hp¥^ever, m rather rnore com- 
ptox than in moit piwlous 
garner of tie type, and gen- 
erally, the graphics are quite 
different from other Mic^ 
roephere games. 
The acenarto plays heavily on 
old computer nam^, some- 
what bestardtoed over the 
VTtefverklng yeara. H seems 
there will bo a lim© when 
'VVatchem' will i>e placed in tf^e 
#des o* tf>e dty, servants, 
friencte in the %ht to make the 
dty safe. The people wil) even 
rtve them nkiwiamTO. calling 
mtm after the primitive 20th 
cerrtury ccMUputers that 
delighted the children so much 
In ne fnueeuma. 
Bui won the RkB and the 
Drags, the Doras and the 
Tnjms wM have aftforced 
grime so auGOK^tty that they 
wfll turn to enfordng the lesser 




oWences. Then they wfll Js- 
cmm the dty archJvM - still 
packed with anctent and 
never-repoeled laws. The 
Watchers have been prog- 
ramrrved lo enforce the law - 
and the city lives in fear. . . 
Your mission is to seek out and 
destroy tfie Watchers using 
your rtectronic pulse 
generator. 

The screen omtains a view 
from itie heiioopter of the dty 
streets To tf^ left arxl below 
tii^ viewscreen are the instru- 
ments These include the yt>i- 
c^itous fuel gauge, and the 
mechine uses ^t quite quickly, 
tfwe are five fuel dumps in the 
city which can be visited or>ce 
each du ri ng a game. As the dty 



PoeltkHi 



would never quafify on a raal 
track!? More coyU have been 
made of tt^e use of gears for 
si^ed and control manhas 
been, O^efalt, cpjite a good 
raoe track 9a me . but spd ted by 
tie excepbonally h Ig h pnce tag 
-«MI,atleastitisn'ttrie£l5we 
origifAlly feared it v^oukf be. ' 

coMMarrs 

Control keys: OfP Mt/right, Q 
to brake, A to change gear, or 
use the cursor keys 
Joyvttdt: Kemp^on, AGF. 
Protek.Sindairg 
Key^board play: vei^ goodp 
attnbute problems kept lo a 
minimum 

82 CRASH Christmas Spedal 



UM o( colour: good 3D 

effect, detailecf ary) targe 

Qfaphlca^ bit dicky, nothing 

special, nice tune 

Sound: progresses difficulty 

SMII levels: HIA 

UvesM 

Special featuree: obc^e 

average, but pricey. 

Oenenl ratings 80 



llM of computer €0% 

Graph Icfl 80% 

Playablilty 71% 

Oettifigttarted 75% 

Addlotive qualities 52% 

VwAim for motley 49% 

Overnll 6S% 



ts fiaar the sea amf fo^ swirl In 
napfdiyp a ceiling gauge shows 
the height of the doud level. 
There is also an tfttfi^e meter 
and a sf^edo. OtnMly placed 
is the all Important compass 
and dose range mctei on 
which the Watchers appear. A 
live letter t>and indicates your 
proa^imity to a fuel dump; wiHi 
tt\e appropriate letter flashing. 
Destroying Watchers is done 
by flhng wt>en they are in the 
centre of the vid screen arKl the 
tafgat indicator Flashes red. 
There are various skfll levels 
which are accessed as in 
Wheetie 0)r<xigh codes gained 
by completing a level. One 
aspect which makes the game 
harder Is thai the vtewscreen is 
virfnerabie to contact wrth 
bulMtngs or watdiers, and eas- 
ly beobmea cracked. These 
cracks remain with you during 
mgame, making It increasingly 
raitler to see where you are 
flying. 

cHmasM 

• 'Sky Aanoer takes SD 

perspective dmm to a land's 
eye view as opposed lo a bird's 
eye view. Rying through and 
over arKl around skysarapers 
of varying heights is qi^e fun, 
seeing me well ariwn line 
graphics whizz past you, and 
mastering the skills of flying 
roufKi tight comers and read- 
ing Instantaneously to what 
yow mipht find round them, t 
was a tittle syrprised to find a 
ga/ne produced by Mto* 



roepnere that nad a lacK or con- 
tent. Flying around a city trying 
to iocate and destroy the > 
Watchers , is not rny idea of tan- 
taslic fun OkaVp you have to 
refuel now ajKl again, but that's 
noi such a big deal, H you dpi* 
lide with a watcher, part of your 
screen crad^ and shatters like 
a cobweb, very reaJistic 
Indeed. But if you crash into the 
ground or into a skyscraper^ 
vou pel one or two wtiackjng 
Dig zig zag lines from the lop to 
the k^om of tfie 5cr€^eii, and 
this makes lite quite dis- 
concerting, trying to seek and 
destroy wHh mesa huge \im^ 
down me centre of the scraen, I 
would have thoughl H would 
t^ve been quMe adequate 10 
jusi have the shatte^^ cob- 
web eftect, as this doesn't 
really destroy your vision bul 
grvas a nice effed- r4o< one of 
Micfosphere's moat enter- 
taining games, I thlr4( tt%ey 
shoutd stick to original ideas 
wrth wor^erful graphics. * 

• 'White firsi pl^ving ^i$ 
game t was amaiBGto see m 
unthoughttut layout of tfre 
s{^QGa - it was cluttared and 
untitiy, and difffcuft to makB 
out what vanou$ msfrymwts 
wore and what th ey ware usad 
fof. One thing Microsphme 
hava a/ways nmnag^ i$ to 
ha^B a 6dy footong screen. 
Thefas no doubi^ng (he Quat- 
fly 0/ Ihe 3D graf^ics - fte 
MacA Una on a yaliow ground 
with hiddan fines masked out 
mafras fot a very .reaJtefe 




48K SPECTRUM 



PROJECT FUTURE - Your mission to teJeport aboard, 
and activate the Seif Destruct System, of the dreaded 
Star Ship FUTURE. 

The SS FUTURE is a huge labyrinth of a Star Ship, 
covering 256 screens of the most amazing high 
f«sotutlon graphics ever seen on the Spectrum. 



THE 



ULTIMATE 



ARCADE ADVENTU 



M0©1®M^INI)A 



AVWLABLE NOW FROM ALL GOOD SOFTWARE OUTLETS OR DIRECT 

PRICED C6.9$ INC P & P FROM: 

MICROMANIA, 14 LOWER HILL BD., EPSOM, SURREY KTt9 BLT 





mii«£*i 



effect, 0itf iWlMtf Of me i^vei 
tew scamrad towers, here we 
havB the feeing of flying 
through a reaf aty. The rest 
problem fsthetthe geme starts 
to patt after a white Once the 
novefty ot the graphics has 
become tamHief ¥Oi/ stert to 
long for more actk)rr, and iif i$ 
hefe ff^at ih^ gBme tacks 
somBwhat. The WatchefBBm 
rrot all that frequent, and 
atthough they witt dash at you, 
thBy do not fire Or protect 
thmnsetvm Great gmphics^ 
but a bit thm on pkt - sur~ 
prismg fof Mcfosphme. * 

• Ihte is fh# fir$t game that 
Micrasphdre Kava prcxiycsd 
that has lir>t gmphtcs. As one 
would exped, the lin^ graphics 
are drawn etfidwtry ami 
quickly to produce sicyscrapef 
style treiKdiies and 3D parsfi^ 
tiva. The known features of this 
; game are rnghi flying, tog, 
^JGh bt&nks out the detaiTs 
and doaoBTKis quite fapidy at 
amm (usually when you oouW 
wail do without it). It ^ quite tun 
to fly atxxit ttirough the ^- 
scraper comd^xs trytng to trade 
imtm 'WatohefB' and desdniy 
On the higher levels, 



*VVatdm^' become more Intef- 
igent and more abundant. A 
N^ dMree of shJN is needed 
tog*etrido(them. I like the way 
that your windscreen is cob- 
webbed with cracks I* you 
shoukl hit a Watcher', but I 
tound th« larae crad>is thai 
appeal if you hit the ground too 
hard, or a buikiing. begin to get 
in the way of th© game. Overall 
quEte a good flying game that 
maybe require a btt more con- 
tent tomaKe rltop notdi. ' 



COMMEKFS 

Cofitrol kayi: user defiriable. 
pr^tel are: CAPS to V/B to 
SPACE leftrighi, Y to P/H (o 
EMTER up/down, Q to T/A to 
G laster/slowor. i to to fire 
Jovattck^ alfTK^ any via UDK 
Keyboard play; response 
Us« of colour: sensible ar^ 
avokto attribute problama 
Graplitea: eKCoHemSD detail 
oddly iintidy on the 
matrufnerrls 

Sound: noi much, m<stly a 
sound for the heiicoptef speed 
Skill levela: progressive with 
access codes 




Uvw: percef^e d damage 
zicfeena* 1 
Special taatureet 
General rating: above 
average Icr content p vefy good 
for graphics, perhaps a 
disapfwnhnent coming from 
Microshpere, but still a good 
flying game. 



Use of computtr 


81% 


Qraphic« 


79- 


Playabritty 


65% 


Gotttng started 


73% 


Addictive qualttios 


Sfi% 


Value for money 


69% 


Overall 


71% 



A much damagad cha()|Mr,lNil stil Hying. 




84 CftASH Christmas Special 



ONiy THE BEST BECOME A... 






A SPECTACULAR FLIGHT SIMULATION 
OF THE WORLDS MOST EXCITING JET 
FIGHTER WITH STUNNING 3D 
COCKPIT VIEW AND THE MOST 

COMBAT EVER SEEN ON THE | 

SPECTRUM- J 




48K SPECTRUM 

BY DK MARSHALL 




Figtiltr Pibt Disk 
Fgtiir PHat CassePe 

SPECTRUM 

FigNt^Rtol 48K 

Tomahaiivlc 48K 

ITRmr 4aK 

VAI Mp. & p. ifldusive sfiltkin UK 



D £6 95 
n £7.95 
Coining 

fOCMl 



Ptease S6fxJ to Oigrtal Integrauc^. Depl Watehmoor Tradt Canne. Wairihmoor Road. Cambertey , &jf r ey GU 1 5 3AJ 

Tr«d« mid CMport »nqiJirl#s walcorrw. Lrt«ttm« Gu«rantH. 




^ictgh 



■iRS 



FALL GUY 

ProduMr: ElttB Software 
Memory required: 4aK 
RetatI price: £6.95 
Luiguage: machine oode 



Anyone v^ho ever saw the 
Oddball movit atarrir^ Pmm 
OToole cal^©d Stuntman will 
have gu^^sdd that a film 
rtuntman's Sfe is neitfier safe 
nor easy Elrte'a Fail Guy, the 
offidalty lioenOttd version of the 
Warner BrolherQ TV $^>@$ of 
the same narne, oould actual^ 
be feganjed as a truer 
refle<akin of stunting ttian the 
series on whicMt ie based f 
You play Lae hiajors playing 



Burbar*:) where you left off - 
The action opens with the 
tamoys Jumping fiofn a bridge 
onto a fast moving train' scene, 
which CoM Seavefi c^n do wHt^ 
both anns tiod behind hhs back 
and his ey^ dosed. Usually, 
whon this is done, the train i$ 
exciting the tyrvnel/bcidge wt^en 
ycMJ jymp onto it. What makes 
lie tricky m Pali Guy is that the 
ecAksn Is reversed^ so 3s soon 
as you have successfully 
landed on the rc^ of i 
carriage, you must start to nin 
like hell to keep from being 
srraahed into the bckjge. To 
rmfci We more ditfkxjii there ts 
a bird flapping aroufxl by the 
bndge, which gets in the way ol 
the Teaps OrKe 15 canlages 
have been successfully leapt , 
ttie scene dissolves !o the 
next. A sort of ropeal accept 
that the goods train ceniaoes 



technk|ue for JufnpingMmJng is 
required. Grapt^ are all 
large, cheerful in cokxjr ami 
detailed. All the moving 
graprtics do so in a smooth, 
Hicker-tree action, and not at 
any sJow pace either. Great 
tunes. Fatt Guy Seems to have 
plenty of playability in tt, but I 
thought just lumpirip, timing 
and Jumping again isn't vofy 
compulsive content for me, 
More Itkey to be a success with 
youiigir ^m^ piayen. * 

• Efffe rtave om^mfy 
worked ¥&fy hard with the 
graphics in Fall Guy, because 
there ere 30 screerrs. a// 
^ari^, Mmfmated with targe, 
detaifad pjcfures- Your man is 
a massive t^sfmr too. A 
sophisticated degree ot 
jumping contol is possible, as 
tf)e ton0er you keep tfie key 




ThvyVv fmtth eaaier to ca«ch at the station . 



Colt Seavers in a series of 
stunt situations. Tlie scenario 
is s^mp^e enough Tha film has 
a iimited bucSgi^t, and every 
aooond wasted mearts more 
mor>ey lost. You get five lives, 
or takes' to pyt it in fHm 
parianceH and on each screen 
you must complete a set 
amount of shot 1oa^e\ As all 
flie scef>es incoiporate the act 
of jumping from or>e thirvg to 
another, this means that 
enougii footage is in the can' 
whefi you have leapt 1 5 times. 
Should you fail, and have to go 
for another 'tak@\ you pick up 
1ootme-w)ee' (as they say in 



are going the othcM" way, so you 
must run towmrds the jumping 
posrtion to stay on screen. 
Furttrer scenes include leaping 
onto moving boats, tanks etc. 

cftmcisM 

• "You may wonder. w^\ Is it 
anything like the TV swes -4he 
answer is ves, in a way. The 
Idee coukJnt have been 
simpler, iust jump and land in 
the fight placet while avoiding 
flying obgcts (I thifik they re 
ducfcs)! That may sound easy 
but on eed^ screen a different 



ptBBSed, the furfftm he/urfips. 
In piay, the game is very 
simpfe rMKy. It is one of those 
that nqoraa a rhyO^mic 
rnemory, since repeated 
timing is of the essence This 
means Aar compit^ng a 
st^^ert can become quite 
Bmy, but moving onto the neMt 
is another matt0r, since a# 
your rfijrtftms ere throwfi out. 
Despite te simfdiaty. and 
because of the great graphit:^, 
i toun d Fall Guy tun to piay and 
femartraWy addictive. Piry it 
has to be £t too much, and t 
wonder if all these ficanced 
games are having to add so 




much to afford the royafties for 
thebcame?' 

• 1 never thought very much 
of tfie TV serim, beoause I 
can'i mand Lee Majors. wtik:h 
puts you at a dtsaavantage in 
reviawina agame based on Che 
seriM. However, your man 
kKto nothing like him, thank 
goodnera, so that got that out 
of the w^ ! There s no« much to 
the game content, but whet 
there is. is devof stuff, arxJ 
difRcuit. Marveltous, detailed 
and often humourous oraphlcs 
make for high playat>ilEty, and I 
OT^oyed the game very much. 
However I don t think rt has that 
much la^ng appeal because 
of the lack of content. It's tiue 
(hat you have to be abte to 
change pace and jumping style 
from screen to screen, ard 
there are a k>t of them, but in 
the end the fun palts with the 
repetition of kJeas Good but 
not great, a/^ a tiifie 
eJtper^vetoo/ 

COMMBITS 

Control keyi: Z or M/X or 

SYM SHIFT lott/rigbt, §a\^ 

MTip 

Joyatjclc: Kempston, Sinclair 

2, Cursor type 

Keyboerd play: reeponsJve, 

simple operation arxl well laid 

out for left or right hands 

Use of cpoloyr: SKoellenl, very 

varied 

Qraphlot: excelfent. large, 

smooth and detaiJed 

Sound: very good lunes ¥vlth 

onioM faciMy 

SMIIIev«to:1 

Uvea: 5 

Screened 30 

OenMnl ratir>g : a game with 

good playaUfity , b(/t lacking In 

acidlctivTty. 



Um of computer 7S% 

Qraphlcs 80% 

Playability 81% 

Gettlr^ starttd 75% 

Addictive quaitia* 72% 

Val ua for money 74% 

Overall 71% 



\ 



86 CRASH Christmas SpedaJ 



msTJ\GnoN 

FOR YOUR 
SPECTRUM 



Can your computer 
hoMoui? 





snefCOMCH 

A wdsf dm €^<H^n gem^ for yowf 
Spm€ffum whMt r^^lly do^t pm^fdm 
fometfifng quttm dtfformnf ofKf 

Ybir arw Kkkt Mtvmrs^ fhm hmro of thm 

gmm^» 4fnd yq¥ mMSf f«ap aboard 

fhm mnnwoy stops and guldm If 

§j(gfmiy ovtf fhm plain% and fn rough 

fhm trm^€hmiroiii mounfaln^ Thmn 

fustrnt my Itmu^t ymi wore s^m, 

fifihf off thm crTTcKlri'fffi Indton^ 



y 






Ibif ^m ffylitg ffr« wwlcf's dfwxIfteMf 
affcraft^ If oi¥«v«r ft w&vfd 
uppmar rif at j^our CofPifnond 
C*ftim hai /uit iAnt you ofi 
fhm worfdf^i daodW#it 
jfifmsJo^n* 
FhHV ufHrnofv fn stnit»afc 

octkifi, TivJi roo% 

offmr$ fhm pt^ymf two 

fvlf graphic i<roJJl ng 

■cr»«its with ovvf- 

30 J*¥»lf ^f pAoyt 



Dfiril HffMG 








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, . , „ , ^ , , f'» 1 T^r: T*-^- ' v*>"r, >-41^^^H 


15?*?j^T.^"M.v;r!'r« 




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■ 



Doito Wffig if on «rcfyon€*d fffgfir 
tOfnbot sfmulafor ff ftoi bflen 

the tumble ond roH oflifgh ipmmd 
atght With IS imparofm controls to 
monitor and J n coining mnmmy ptottms 
fa bm dmatf wifK fhi% program fokes 
yQ0 and yoyt Spm^frum to the timtf$, 
tfmtfa Wing aha oflowj TWO ^ecfnim 
compyfen ta ptof against eoch othmr 
through Fhe use of tv^o Inferfate P^ 

mACHtm AGAIMSr MACHim 







li 



^' H'-*oc3 cDniputer software stockists 
5#tid fHi (tfck as required ^ 
n MOAWiNQ TNCC191 

n BUCK HAWK T^ICCU 

D STAGECOACH TNCClSl 

C My local ^ockjst s addrKS 
□ Y&uffulfiistofgafr^es 

6ame/s at £S-9S ^ach i 

+ singte P&P sum 

MaJtoseod £ 



Bfdheque 
toTtm 



OfPOtTO 



£S.»S 
£6.95 
£6.9i 



Enier card no 

u 



( TO rash) macJe paya We 

D SyAcc^Gss 
Q BdTclBfcaiftl 



J 1 I j I I i I I I I I I I 



Creative Sparks, 

Department MO, 

296 Fambofougti Road, 

Famborougll. MampshrrcGUM TNR 

Tfeiephone: (0252) 51fil64. 

Name 

Adifeess 



Sigribetow; 



30p 



Cwiix ca^ sales: UK buyers o«%. 
Response wthm 21 days. 



CRASH and CREATIVE SPARKS have 
teamed up to offer you the chance to win 
more than £700 worth of graphic 
drawing equipment. And the good news 
is that there are no restrictive rules and 
regulations to tie you down, so just let 
that artistry flow! 



LeooaROo 

CALLING ALL ARTISTS!! 





PRIZES 
AND CATEGORIES 

Foe the overan winner there Is e pro- 
fesdiona} Dovliblu Airbrush com- 
plete with ksw noise compressor, 
noses and inks (worth over £330), 
plus a Datapen light pen. 

The winner of Categofy On« 
receives a Rotring Uographlc 
Orawing Pen Set {worth £57) , and an 
A2 size drawing board with Stand, 
and a Datapen tight pen. 

For the winner of Category Two 
there is a Touchmaster drawing 

pad (worth £130). There are also five 
funners-up prizes of the new Letrajet 
Graphic Tool, each worth £25. 

Well, what are you waiting for? Oh 
yes, the detaitsi 

COMPETITION 

For the overall winner's prize, 
entrants must display the most 
innovative and imaginative use of ttie 
new graphic drawing utility from 
CflEATIVE SPARKS - Leonardo, 
What you submit is entireiy up to you, 
just so long as you don t forget to 
wakB use dLeonartto of course. 



^ 




In Category One the prize will go to 
the person who in our view submits 
the Best Technicai Drawing -- exactly 
wtiat you do a technical drawing of is, 
once again, up to you. 

The Category Two prize will go to the 
artist of The B^A Poster Drawing, 
and once more, subject and tre«rt- 
mentis up to you. 

You can enter any on or aH three 
categories: that's Leonardo or 8«9t 
Technical Drawing or Best Potter 
Drawing. Don't forget to write the 
appropnate category title on your 
su6mission(s), as well as your name 
and address, and seno them to 

LEONARDO COMPETmON. 

CRASH MAGAZINE, PO BOX 10, 
LUDLOW, SHROPSHIRE SY8 IDB. 

Pteese make sure your entries are 
suitably wrapped or packaged to 
avoid damage, and If you would like 
them returned, please state so and 
enclose a suitably stamped and 
addressed return envelope. 



DEADLINE 

As this competition is a rattier more 
demanding one than most we run f !), 
it has an appropriately loriger time to 
njn. Ptease ensure that entries anive 
no later tfmn first post March 31 19&5 

We hkope winning entries will be pub- 
lished in CRASH (lavishly!) although 
at the time of goirig to pnnt, this has 
not yet tieen confirmed. Watch out for 
furttier details next year, , , 

CRASH Christmas Special 89 




!gi«j«^ 




NEW CYLON 
AHACK 

PrDducer:A A FSoftiAnre 
M^moiV required: 4aK 
Retail price: £5J5 
Langy a§e : mftch i n« code 



A ft F are probably most fam^ 
Okm in SpJectaim gafms tor 
tmr hi-scofBf platform gome 
ChuckiB fog, which ^ill srti in 
the CRASH chart even now. 
its been qyrte a vihile slnoe 
that (^me out and the iateat 
release, N&w Cyfon Attack is a 
conversion from the BBC ancJ 
Elearw m^fos The game 
was sakl lo have set new stan- 
terds for spac^ gani^^ on Itte 
Beet>, end one cfitic went as far 
as to say that tha only problem 
with rt was that mmB iwie 
ncrthtnQ to ci^ritkise (theieby 
reinfofting the ftflacy (het oi- 
ftdsm impl^ bad oommenls). 
New Cyton AttBck is a 30 
apace bartia in whidi you must 
defend dvilisation wofTi th© 
attacking Cylon shtps The 
aleni h^e discovered the 
route o< your nK«t\ef ship and 
are out to d^troy H. As an 
Irtlefceptor pilot you are 
launched from the molhef ship 
to fight them with your fcaser 

mm screen dis;^ is largely 
filled with the 3D view of space . 
Oentred in the view is a 
squared gun sight with vertical 
and lateral mov^rg bars for fine 
sighting . The sights move with 
Ship moveftient Laser boWB 
are se^n as round blobs hurth 
ing out from irth^f aide of the 
screen towards the lar^e and 
soUdaNens. 

Other screen information 
shown indicates status of 
shlekls, lasers and fuel. Jfm 
lasers use energy and take 
time to recharga. miling to fire 
until replenished. Fuel arx) 
shields are replenished by 
dodting with tfra yellow cxjA- 
oured moftership — en auto- 
matic pPQceeo if you Ine the 
sights on it. Mthoigh fuel may 
be replenished by cfocki no dur- 
ing an attad( wave, shieios are 
only replenished when a wave 
is defeated, But dunng the 
dodcing aliens may attadt the 
moUnership. 

Apan from tt^ multifarious 
alen cralt Iheie are oliier 
celestial bodee about, planets 
with moons, sigrvjosts pointing 
to Mars, oomeis and many 
ttaiB. A radar atiove the vie- 
wscreen indicates the pos- 



itions of attacking aliens which 
are just out of visual rar>ge. 
while the nrother ship te a yel- 
low flashing dot. 
Well they {nought it was great 
on the Beeb — how about the 
Spectrum? 



CRITICISM 

A 'A & F's Nbw Cyhn Atteck 
is a 30 cockpil game using 
graph l(^ which are more soiid 
tian the type used by some I 
similar and recent games. The ^ 
game rs very ptayatrie but it 
only involves shooting Cylons 
— unlike other recent 3D 
space games like Dark Star 
and Sterstrike, whk^ have 
mofe things lo do 0ut Cyion 
Atmck is no< exactly like tnem 
In the truest sen&e ^ it s t>aa- 
kiaily a cockpit shoot em up, 
arxl rt's a good ofve at ttbet. ' 

• It's mcB to be able to gat 
away from ttiB 3D wifBffSfne 
that so many r&cent gamBS 
hmratmanspBcmlising on md 
hava soids tor a change, i 
mmt sey, / sCfW preifef solid 

grapiiia, orttf iftese ata nice 
ig and dMMtod grapfjics that 
wofti well in p&nspomvB Thm 
m not just a space shoot em 
game wth your task to &Hmi- 
nam Bmry aHeo in sight - this 
game cor}tafn$ mora things 
such as rotating pfanats witij 
rotating moon^ circfing thmn, 
meteontes and ^t&roids as 
waif as other vanous ctetes 
Of spaca ships whioh ctfirvof 
be shot -one of the ntost rac^ 
ogr»rsab/e being me USS 
Enterphsaf I am pleased to 
see A & F Ireaping on th» 
Spectrum scene as they dont 
seam to Aave produced any- 
Irtmg tor Ifte fast six months. 
Good sound on this game is 
aiso a w^ome t^ature. t 
tound the game very piayabta, 
buf maybe a SWe weanng on 
the adoictiife quatities. ' 

• There S something a bit oW 
fashioned abo^ New Cyfon 
Attack , no* surprising pertiaps , 
as tWs IS an older game from 



another machine converted to 
the Spectmfn. f^ that the okj 
fashioned quality is e draw- 
back, because the graphics 
and speed are very much up to 
date, and what you get is a 
good, zappy shoot em up in the 
T/megefe tradition. Good 
sound effects add to the 
atmosphere as well as dashes 
of visual humour m some d the 
defciris 04xupying space with 
you I did find that the game 
had a limited appeal after a 
while, which affects rts addic- 
thrify a litfle. but definitely orm 
for the shoot em up brigade. ' 



COMMBTTS 

Control keya: user definablep 
needs tour directional and orm 
for fire 

Joystick: Kempston catered 
for. others Via UDK 
Keytioard play: responsive 
— watctiouttor inertia effed 
Use of colour: playing area is 
black and white, simple usage 
around 

Qraphiee: good, fast moving, 
lar^e and wofk welt in 
perepedive 
Sound: very good 
Stdll levela: 1 
Lives: 3 fuel lives and 
percentage of shield damage 
Sereent: many attadc waves 
Special feetiireei 
Gerverat rating: good, 



Use of computer 80% 

Graphics 79% 

Playabillty 77% 

Getting started 78% 

Addictive qoalftlea 73% 

Value for money 78% 

Overall 78% 




SPECTRUM 
4SK 






NEW CYLON ATTACK 

IN ISOMETRIC PEWSPECTIVeT sS ^ 



I 



90 CRASH Christmas Special 




I 





PLUMMET! 

Producer: Inter captor 
Soltware 

Memory requir^: 48K 
Ratall price: £7,00 
Language: machine code 
Author" Sttphen Curtts 



Maiden voyages of almost any- 
MnQ seefn to attract drama. 
Vwm was the i^mking of ttie 
Tttarvo. Paul Newman s beaut* 
M glass towef tximed down in 
Jow&mg infofoo. ar>d rxjw, 
durira tie opef^ing of Naw 
York'i fiewMt iikyscrapor. Ilia 
Mayor has got stuck between 
loom in the (itt and tfm chain 




holcting the lit! is slowly break- 
ing The tiero of ftie piece i3 not 
Robert Reclford but Orson who 
N^ bmn sumnr^oned to redoje 
the Mayor before death sete In 
Orson must get enough ropes 
from the building to tie the lirt to 
ttie steel beeiTis to prevenl its 
plummet. The dicyscraper is 
seen as ihree eo^erts {thii 
tsn 1 ejtctly a TOWERING Infe- 
rno) or floors, and you can 
nxive between them by using 
the many relevant staircases, 
whilst avoiding being crushed 
by oorxirele blocks, grabbed 
by a zombie doomian or mut- 
ant revolvina door or falling 
dust (they did say this was a 
NEW skyscraper ?) and collect- 
ing trie ropes neoe^aiy tof ttie 
task. Fire doora on 1^ aeoond 
screen are shut and cant be 
opened unless you fire at 
thern. 

CRmCISM 

• WwmmefJf la an above ave- 
rage game witti Qood greplilcs. 
The game is playable but a 
task reduced only to getting 
ropes does not help the addict- 
ive quaMlies very much. Perh- 
aps the Imaginatkin should 
have been used more in game 
(^eation than on variants of 
well Ired themes Fair enough, 
itNe game has not been brought 
out tofore biil it seemed to 
have those properties of so 
many other games which 
make it teet famitiar For exa* 
rr^iie, afar seeing a few episo- 



des of American TV seriee (no 
flames!}, the plots wear a KMe 
thin, an atthoy^ this ia an 
aixwe average gefne. it is 
nnade up from the sajne old 
material A litlfe more imaginat- 
ion and originality pkeasef 

• Plummet 1 is on the whoh 
one of <fte most intufiating 
games thave pfayed. Om& 
you get to the top screen, 
shoot the doc^mwn and dodge 
the tBlling dus t an d put a top in 
the lift, your tire button stops 
working I Oyought fhe graph' 
fcs were very good bt// fhe 
sound, wht there was of it, 
wBmt Igeneratly enjoyed 
pfaying it, even though it is inf- 
uriating. ' 



• Interceptor are probatity 
better known for ff^eir C8M64 
games where the graphics are 
great bu themme content is 
often fcking mis seerr^ to be 
the case wrihPiummeif. GrV* 
hically. the Ihree saeer^ are 
very good, the pteyec and the 
Zombie Doixmen are well 
anjiTkated an even the sound is 
good ; bu the game s challenge 
wtII be gone wfthln a week even 
for people who find 'Breakout 
games mystrfying Espedally 
when pnced this high, good 
graphics are not enough We 
Spectrum owners are not ave^ 
rse to games being complete 
and mean, so a three-screen 
cousin of Ma/j/c Miner is hanly 
likely to set the Hotiine Chart 
iUue. ' 

COMMENTS 

Control keya; Q/A up/down. 
0/P tett'right, SPACE to fire 
Joyallck: Kempston. Pfotak. 
AGF. Sinclair 2 
Keyboard play; sensible 
positk^s and responsive 
Uie Of cotour: good 
Grvphica: smooth, with some 
nice animatiofi, generally 
simple looking 
Soiind; poor 
Skill tevela: 1 
Lives: 3 
Screefia:3 
Special fsaturear 
General rating: ladks 
ad^ictivity ard scope, only 
average ai a steep price. 



Use of computof 


$9% 


Graphics 


68% 


Playabifity 


70% 


Getting starled 


66% 


Addictive qualities 


49% 


Value for money 


45% 


Overall 


61% 




CRASH Christmas Special 91 













'^ K^ 




a 



I 



tl SEEMS SUITABLE to announce the results of the 
CRASH READERS^ AWARDS 1984 in ttiis issue of 
CRASH because it marlts the end of our first year of 
existence. Unrihe most other computer magazines 
CRASH started tite as a mail order catalogue which 
reviewed Qames as a part ol its service, leaving 
customers to mafie up their own minds about actu- 
ally t}uyfng> Because of this earlier background, 
some ol that philosophy carried over into the 
magazine. The idea was to act as a service not only 
to readers, hut also to the software industry ~ a 
means of tjringing both sides together. All too often, 
people suppose what others want and magazines 
go along with it regardless. Only time will tell 
whether or not CRASH has had any significant effect 
OR either software producers or software buyers, but 
ft seems logical to let readers say their piece on 
what sotlware and hardware they have liked best 
during the past year. These are the results of the 
nU CRASH READERS* AWARDS. . . 



94 CRASH Cr^ristmasSpedaJ 




BEST PLATFORM GAME 



MONTY MOLE 

by GREMUN GRAPHiCS 




One argument about the 'Oscaus' is ttiat it is the films 
towards the end of tfie 'Oscar' year that lend to win the 
awards, with the earlier ones tending to be forgotten. 
That's as may be, but Gremlin's Monty Mole won by a 
comfbitable margin over Jer S&r miy, taking 40% of the 
total vote. Third in line was Ffank N. St&irt from P. S. S. 

Wrrtten by Peter Harrap, Mfxity Mote sprang to fame via 
Ihe TV r^ews, with its timely caricature ot Miners' leader 
Aithur Scargill, but it was the {X>mplexity of piaying the 
platform style game that gave it appeal, along with its lively 
graphics. One reviewer said. The graphics, design and 
animation off all the moving characters is e)*oeHent. amus- 
ing artd attractive, and that adds qurte a bit to the playabiirty 
Olthegame.' 



BEST MAZE GAME 



SABRE WULF 

by ULTIMATB 




There could be hardly any doubt as to the outoonie in this 
category and Ultimate s Sabm Wulf won hands down, 
getting 49% of the vote, wtlh th© nejct being Cavetan from 
ODean wtth 1 1 ^o and then jA^iics from Biig-Byte. 

Despite arguments aboirt Ultimata's steep price 
inaeasa and whettief Sabre Wulf was merely an Atic Atac 
with leaves on. the game has caused more praising rTMil 
than any other game wo can think of this year. The graph- 
ics were e^oeirent. and the game a tough cx^e to play, 
though perhaps not quite as hard as^hc Atac . The sort of 
wccrtement that a new Uttimate gam© can produce is 
fummed yp nwtly by one reviewer who said. 'After waiting 
a week in a state of extreme anxiety for the phone call to 
say ITS HERE! I almost fainted when it came!' The same 
reviewer has recently been in a state suitable for hc^ 
pitalisatiop with the wait for Underwuricte and Knight Lor9 1 









ii 




CRASH Chnstmas Special 95 



1 




BEST SHOOT EM UP 



AD ASTRA 

by GARGOYLE GAMES 




The extraorttinary solid 3D graphics otAd Astra Laundied 
Gargoyte Qames, arxl CRASH was proud to be frie first to 
spot H in the May issue, wtien we sakJ ttiings like, The 
stunning graphics are the f if st thing lo hit you in the me. . . ' 

'With its superb graphics, speed and niass of aJiert 
weiaponry, Ad A$tra is a drtfioJlt and addictive game lo 
play." 

It was a comfortable win ov#r Micronriaga s Code Name 
Ma f and Btack Hawk from Creative Sparks. We have to 
admit to some puzzlement that Miaomega's Death ChmB 
didn't crop up near the top of this ^teQory, but Gargoyle's 
win is wm deserved, and the Binninghanvbased software 
house is set to give us nrvore surprises in 1 965 with tiieir 
LOT Ique graphics. 



BEST (OVERALL) ARCADE GAME 



DALEY THOMPSONS DECATHLON 

by OCEAN 




This was a pretty tight foiight category, as you might 
imagine DBoamton took it with 17% of the lota! vote, 
closely followed by Jet Set Willy with 1 S% of the total vote 
and Sabre Wulf with 12%. 

Being the year of the Olympics, 1 9&4 saw a spate of 
Track and Field' type games appearing in the early 
summer - some are still appearing even now, but dearly 
Ocean's glamon^us tie up with British star decathlete 
DaJey TTiompson , was set lor the top. At CRASH we had a 
Qood chance to play the game as It was used to test the 
joysticks for the Battlefield' artide. The reviewers liked ii 
even after seeino the CBM64 version, with ^e only gripe 
being that Daley looked as though he had been washed in 
Bold! 




ptlfM 



96 CRASH Chrlstnnas Spedal 



(jKumrytdfia fou ff>mrric>t>c>r^fj<54 ar )iy Hpc^<'tric^m4iik 




soxx^r^s dt Boacmasf 



,tjpi »fl» lad Soiciff ivpnttfiy tint DM «uii$ipto of Hw 

JliMMi iBi Pl^lc; adwiiUK* ^jiAt ifw luOqu^ MIDAS 



I wad Scnmr diffm fRXD csiliiffr idmttiiin In chui 
)l«i|iiilr yoor cfamcttir llmmijb ihc uiwndiEif conii|Q« 
ftf tfai umkrvstld on ■ ipitil to raMeiiiJ, pliy«&Piit mad/Of 



lute m ■ tioKlEir irtlli llnttvd ibil^ki in thv uw of 
(ktik pidkkm. ih^ving vie}. 



a.-^fiii nDdvr tiii oonidQn, yvu will 
■Mivl iRliMr. d i a uf i ii yntiplit iPMllh uid iriirthlMi 
WKm IdMi oii|itli win lacsHB ^our [Hrwiti, iifulit tunu 
<ai»i au f tfuy iwditfflotbiiiwiflbg p rol *c fc a dfrDtp 

lb he^ Of hlQd^ you «« f cntr fyUgriiMHp to po w«r ind 

Tte» vt qqo^ wiiftdfi ^Miii wUhm Sv^nli DHt Sofcq^ . 
far tiDiP v^ wini Ui fotipw ihnii. SoBifl «« gfimt oyicn 



mupt be f<iund, and mum bi^ ioil riiiiwi- Theft m* mui^ 
w^ftof opiiiiiii Ihff iit« bctWHm lii« kw^ f>r thp dm^^ 
piDH. Sow sr olsKunr and fti«y^ «>ilu!n Oihvwui »nd 
di^w iA Thv iBOit pfo(iuy» pmihM uv botl). Tilt 
mUiBBtft g)CMl of nun^ wKD bv to find ttifr kmt rnm&tf dI 
Sob, ii*lll^ch wiu un-BUid* bv ilA fiiiili«r^ uid lu fnTti 
■ctttflMl mavm tht J tyA . Wtidl, vhflv. bow, whci ind 
vhf tt# ttimti. (o bv found All tlut l* tLnown to ih« 

WHEN DARK CAB A LI 
LK'NOTTHEIlKDULlp. 
TUEN US FROM WHAT BI:f 
THUSTO XOU GmEAT TI^L . . 



vD US 
»ANP 



diMipmn etn »o kMii«r bdid yi»i, the imM% mwMUl . 

Airailalile on Cassette £9-95 

SPECTRUM 48K OR COBCMODORE 64 



PS S 4S2 STONEY STANTON RO. COVENTRY CV6 5DG TEL: COVENTBY t0203j 667SS6 



mo Ai Aovumuu csmatrr 



^ 



A linkiwr MIy tntirwrtHF* Kifanlim Imfu^gf luinf Uit 
I^Mt AKTrriCIAL INTELUGJINCE: HKhuktUM. 

StiEtf or like trt d«L« cetitp ift i alo ti t«dink|iM« 
•iiciiiBDiit ■ofmrt P Ui Mel «a»bitkTii» to bt 



by Unw ljil«iwiifv Coiiflict Bw pwKM ^Tilli lo yoiif ^ 

o pp c io af il, flllac^ Umbi, On Uwib md vwn ixh^h I6«^ 

jcqrMk^ c^mMI^ fof wmmnt, &amhmr m^ irtkm 
Umsiffa unfipi m«iKi Umum. Kj»ybo«fd ofrttiliiiti 
^ DOT* GOfiipl«£ Inlmctktn wtlli lli^ advccitiliv whfn 
time pcfBUlft, 

Oiiv«kr|> ypui own Miiiqui |iE«xrT ^oHTKrtia, For «u«i^ 
pii - aptdtlkMm in I1M0I:, «liOfdflliy ilt, 

Toiiil iji|ti»idtli4lity - yoiir own cturaclsi ch tw 
ttmsArrwd to fybue HfviMilufii* and maw o pp oti eptpi,. 
tOfiiHfloiu ud oh^icti csii tw iddsd lo Ml ili« i 
A KTHi c»ff Ap«u|«i modtiJ^ tfi ir\rm\tm\ mdtff y 
th« plfljfini lift of tmt mmm wrm^ ^\M MIDI 








BEST TEXT/GRAPHICAL ADVENTURE 



LORDS OF MIDNIGHT 
by BEYOND SOFTWARE 





jJE^. -^^^ -^^^ 




One of tie mosi fimi wins in any category goes to Bey ond's 
Lords of Mianight, which received 51% of the vote, way 
ahead of Sherfock from Melbourne Hotise wrth 10% and 
Adventure Inlefnational's The Hulk. PerhMJSthe surprising 
point is that Lords of Mtdwght is mofe of a strategy war- 

game than an adventure, but dearly, the way it has com* 
Ined all the various elemente within ite frarneworl^ has 
impressed enormously, and no on© could possibfy argue 
tt)at it is t loaded with graphics of a very high starKJard 
Derek Brewster kicked ofl his review with the 
WKWdto, Bayond have produced a game of immense com- 
ptexfty that transcencfe the simple word -matching of the 
mainstream adventure and in many r^^ects more resm- 
t?l^ a strategy wargame'. 



BEST SIMUUTION 



FIGHTER PILOT 
by DIGITAL INTBGRATION 




Few would deny Digital Integration's right to lake this 
ralegory witti their superb prograjn Fiahter Pilot , which 
has remained consistently in the CRASH Hotline chart for 
some time - a proof of rts high poputarrty, H wins com- 
fortaUy with a high 35% of the vote from Psion's Match 
floirtf whidi received 18% and Micfomegas Fatt ThrottiB 
with 147o, Wfttlen by Digital's co-owner Dave Marshall, 
himself a ^hw pilot, this sophisticated program was the 
main attention graJDbef at the 2X Microfair where rt was first 
iaunct^ in Feorudry. Mudi was due to the fact ttat before 
Fighter Pitot flight simulations always seemed a bft stow^ 
this was the first to offer arcade gamers something to grt 
their teeth into. 



^ 



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It 

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96 CRASH Ctiristmas Special 



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Christmas Twin Pack wtth Chrtstmas Card 

Spectrum 48K Pyjamarama Automania £1 1 .95 
Commodore 64 Pyjamarama Automania £12.95 
Amstrad CPC 464 Pyjamarama Master Chess £12.95 




44 The Broadway Bracknell Berks 0344 4^7^17 





BEST STRATE6Y/SIMUUTI0N 



MUGSY 

by MELBOURNE HOUSE 



A ralher peculiar cetagory this one - tiard to describe 
accurately, but ©vefyone seenns to hav« got the idea 
Ojtright winner with 18% of the total vote Is Melbourne 
House with their superbly graphic Mugsy, ancJtber poputar 
CRASH charter. Not too far behind was moentive with their 
look at the software business called Milfionaire, and just 
behind that con^ies the ubiquitous Beyond with lords of 
Midnightmg^in. It would be fair to add that Football Man- 
agerreceJved a very high vote, but as the program dales 
Irom 83 it isnt eligible, 

Mug^y staxes SO heavily with its trerrierKJous comic 
Style graphics, suited to a game set in the roaring tewntj^ 
wnen hoods were reaily hoods, arKJ people were assets to 
be squeezed. 



BEST WARGAME 



STONKERS 

by IMAGINE 




There was a fair selection of wargames voted for which 
means that the percentage gained by the lop three are 
fairly low. Imagines colourful Sfo/7*rafs came out ahead 
with 25% of the overall vote, very dosedy followed by Lor^ 
of Midnight. Further back was Red Shrft's eleganl Rebel 
St&f Rmd&s CRASH was only medium impressed by 
SionkBm, but admitted that the game was different to any 
wargame before it. one reviewer saying, TTie game 
appealed to me much more than most of the other war- 
games due to rts higher quality of graphics, large scale and 
simple controls. " The bug which causes the program to 
crash was noted, but to our knowledge Imagine never 
OOrmaed it before they aashed themsefv^. 




100 CRASH Christmas Special 



Gremlin Graph ts ; 

buy these games at your peril! I 



^^"i^a^ ^ rfrfvepu ** pott¥ fts Pfrfcy. a£ mmd m Mofity pwiUra tn » much «idwn«it ind imw 
rscRlniE CenstoA « anyfehj fu^y ou can buy Th* Um liundi from a n^ comp«n^ *rf,ose desifn team hftve 
ajready iliMfii ^^ggfli^ fhemseiv« to b* mweii of pmes pJinnifii. «iaphk and lound *ftsm 



mny Crowtiier 

y pmt* dtitl Q p gfT ^ tiittior of micfi oiH > ^ 

^ TiDifflw Ofefsic' li noc M * IMC b^ 
•loppeflnnlty lo dui;tl«i^ ofw i]^ the i^%vl4e^ mimi« 
««ed«nipiiwiom|iiiiini 



Peter Hai 

Aulsilsodi?^ Uivei Ht and t«<3ctvcd lliw i 



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Ifl 1 J ( la f^ r^^^^lL >~i^rv\ / 

jg^UL* "^^^^B E^fe"^^^ i^Qr# jBUI^^^'v ^^^1 



BEST 

TFOP 
GAME 



tm out ^^ J^'^^'^ ^-■^ ' o Rfi*(± ten ni^ byikfln« vm$i troro die p«Ci^ ol oetiuihtM i^ilHe. 







midjp bii kul South IdriLi^iir pit C^t^i^Mit • mi«ww * t>uttjrf iW ImcJ* imit ihe ctrfrtiiw „ 
tmiAAi twfc Oftiwi «o do bpQl^ 

diifvot of lopilii^ Ol^ 

MCMi ballot I 

ArEKun«m7 
com^itotfirharyi 
and hi* p«nociil bod|fiki 
^ iupcr m plciiii mid 
fleafflvflylr^ha 



COMING 

SOONf 

PonyPlgeon 

If you can stand the nerve tingling excitement get your garni h^mlmgo^ computer deale 

Distributed by: Centresoft Tth 02 1 -520 759 1 and R & R Software Tel: 0226 7 104 14 





^of amazing graphics and ouistatiding ^^nj. iffecis run a grmhn u,i^ugh your micro 

Granlbi Graplikt, AtpKa Hoafe, 10 Carwr StrMt. ShcfBeid S | 4FS, l^leplioMs <0742| 7SU2i 





I 



EIGHTS 



*.r ^HC-*^ 




BEST BOARD/CARD/PUZZLE GAME 



EIGHTS 
fey ATLANTIS SOFTWARE 




The budget pricod game from Atlantis vms a dear winner Sn 
tf^is category, although ttiere were masses of voles for 
games like ScrabbtQ and Cyrus iS CiiB^, both of which 
pra-ijate 64. Eights is an elegantly written program based 
on a dever and playable card game, and certainly at ite 
price is excel lent value Not far behirxl came ArtJc's Death 
Chess 5000 and DKTronics Jumbfy. 



STATE OF THE ART AWARD 



LORDS OF MIDNIGHT 

by BEYOND SOFTWARE 




*v e«ivotiA 



Beyonef's supremacy in this category is urxfoubted wi1t» 
34% of the total vote, Seoond is uTtimate with Sabre Wuff 
witti 12% and Jet Set Willy oomir>g in ttiird from Software 
Projects, Lords of Midnight author, Mike Singleton, 
deserves the award for the deveioprrtent of this popular 
game, which seems to occupy the time arxl imagination of 
so many people, Derek Brewreter said, Many features of 
the ^ame are new or are developed to an elaborate degree 
setlirig new high starwJards In Spectrum software. ' 




102 CRASH Christmas Spedal 







TO THE STARS! 
FOR THE 48K SPECTRUM FROM CiHIKiOVJL^ C-^I)S»}9r 



"SPACE IS DEEPER THAN YOU THINK . . . 



>» 



ONLY £5.95 EACH 

100% MACHtNE CODE 

ARCADE ACTION, FEATURING 

GARGOYLE'S STUNNING 

CARTOON GRAPHICS. 



AVAILABLE AT SEIKTEO 

RETAILERS OR SEND COUPON 

DIRiCT TO CARCOYiE. 




i*m 



DEALER ENQUIRIES WELCOME 

TEL: DUDLEY 238777 



PLEASE RUSH ME 



COPY/COPIES OF AD ASTRA, 



ENCLOSE CHEQUE/P.Q. FOR £ 



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POST km PACKACINC FfiEE 



GARGOYLE GAMES, 

74 KING STREET, DUDLEY, 

WEST MIDLANDS. 

L........-* ........... 




,.....*•— —..J 





BEST TEXT-ONLY ADVENTURE 



SNOWBALL 

by LEVEL 9 COMPUTtNG 



TQXt*only adventufes stilf represent a large chunk of the 
nwlcflt, with Level 9 one of the most respected (a^hough 
they too have turned to graphics with their latest release). 
Snowbatl won this category hands down, with Dennis 
thmagh tf?e Drinking Glass by Applications oxning in sec- 
ond and Incentives Mountains of Ket following dose 
behind. There were many votes in this category for games 
which were not copynghted in 1904, and were thus inel- 
ligible 

In adventures it is usual to boast of the numtef of loo- 
tions. but Snowbatl probably takes the biscuit with over 7, 
000. CM the game, Defek Brewster said, 'This is very much 
my kJea of an adventure ar>d is set to become a das^ic. ' 



BEST UTILITY PROGRAM 



THE QUILL 

by GiLSOFJ 

This was a very hard tought category wtch Gilsofl just 
pipping Oasis to the finish inp line l>y one vote! So the 
machine code adventure writing utility 7?ie Quilt, another 
long stayer in the CRASH Hotline chart, takes the aman§ 
from the graphics desionef White Ughming. Third was 
M&lboume Draw frwn Melbourne House. Certainly Gil soft 
have made an appreciable dent in adeventuring cx)n- 
sdousness with The Ouilt, ncrt only by otfehng BASIC 
programmers the opportunity to wnle complex machine 
code adventures, but also in spawning a plethora of com- 
mer dally marketed adventure games from numerous 
software houses, many of which have been excetienL To 
complement The Quiff, there is now The fitustrator, a graph* 
tas cWigner specially created to work in confunction with 
The Quili. 



BUMMER OF THE YEAR 



K0SM1K PIRATE 

by ELEPHANT SOFTWARE 




n 




The top contenders in this category were numerous! That 
the winrw recen ved only 1 7"^ o of the total vote goes to show 
that mMt of you have your favourite bummers, and they 
are often quite vaned Foflowirkg very dosely on the heels 
of Kosmik P;rate comes the megadventure Voyage Into 
the Unknown from Maslertronic, and trailing m as a sad 
third Formula One from Spmt Software, 




104 CRASH Christmas Special 



BEST HARDWARE ADD-ON 



COMCON JOYSTICK INTERFACE 

by FREL LIMITED 



tt would onfy be fair to point out ttiat the winner tsy votM 
was the Cuirah Microspaech unit, but this is not elligibfe as 
the unit was released in B3 and not 84, But Prel were not so 
far bahfnd in votes, as Ihis essentially simple plug- in |oy- 
sttck interface has proved enormously popular and wrthin a 
fairfy short spa(» of time too The second mosl voted for 
add-on was the Ram Electronics Ram Turbo intertace. 

Perhaps the significant factoc in the popularity of the 
Comoon interface is Its simplicity and flescibilty, vwxking aa 
It ctoes wilti virtually any game, and programmable in seo 
onda a& the game loacla. Also, because of fit simple con- 
stmction, the price is among the lowest on the market - an 
added advantage. 



BEST LOOKING ADVERT TO APPEAR IN A MAGAZINE 



SABRE WULF 

from ULTIMATE 










This category certainly aroused a lot oi Interes! . and a wide 
spread oT choices toOp reflacted In the low percentage 
tOOnKl by ttie winner, Uftlmate's Sabre Wutf ad wrtti 1 1 % of 
the total vote. A fairiy dose second was the Software 
Projects ad for Jef Set WUfy, followed by the strikingly 
simple ad from Mikro-Gen for Pyfamarama. While no one 
OQutd really argue that all three adverts are r^jt well 
designed and attractive, we wonder how much opinions 
have been grayed by the games themselves!? 




May we take this opporlunlty to thank •vwyone of our 
readers who contributed to these awaitls by vottng 
and writing io, Certrficatee for each award are being 
glvflfi to the companies Involved. They are valuable 
Mnuse they result from the best panel of experts 
available - ytMj, the readers, purchasers and players of 
fie games. 

As promised, the first 1 5 voting forms pulled frcyn the bag 
after collation of the resurts, will each recerve CIO worth OT 
software of their choice plus a CRAJSH t-shirt- They are: 

Stephen Liglhfoot, Sutton Coktfield W. MkJtands 

H Leech, Watford, Herts 

Mrs, C, Moore, Intake. Sheffield 



juHan Paine. Reading, Berks 

David Ross. Glasgow. Scotland 

Barry McLeod, Bodmin, CcKnwall 

Paul Edwin Hutchinson. Upper Nofwood. London 

Stephen Nye, Frome. Somerset 

Philip Day. Grimstry. South Humbereide 

Wayne Thircwetl. Sunderland. Tyne & Wear 

Paul Hobbs, South annpt on. Hants 

Teny Willis Jnr. Bolney. West Sussex 

PaufCollirka, Chigwell Essex 

D. QrMftn, Millom. Cumbna 

Richard Holland. Sheffield, S. Yorks 



1 




CRASH Chfistmas special 105 



The CRASH 

HOTLINE 



THE CRASH HOTLINE PHONE NUMBER IS 
0584 (Ludlow) 30 T 5 



HOW TO USE THE CRASH HOTLINE 



RlfifitlwHo<I^WMl*phDnaiqMn#«r(iep^^V10i1POQn]ipC^ ^ 

Pt«iA ^»Mk iMm^, iOHi i nifl cui fwn* ifri iijltwii i Wm i 'OtHaMmm^iM fa# frt eanwt 

Uh th* o(hif»on biio*. m^ung tv« v^ !■ in tf Iht dAito. ^ flw oou^^ 



I 



rrvii 



e*$ pfjiiiiitMii-iiTiiW^ 



rirt 



WeN, the Chri^mas cTian ga« c^He a tew d^dngce frorn lasi momh Nc< 
rmkti fit the very top v^i«fe Sab^ MMf md Uird^ 0/ Mkinighi are well 
lbe«d, but Ofi/ey d d&cathkifi movi^ t^ 4 td Ihe number 3 slot, and Sal?/^ 
W^rf fin<is «t9 preWilnent posMion throalened by none oth^r itian the 
ti^gjes^ dttfT^s^ pi the month, Btablernate and tollow up Undt^fwurk^e. 
iMghl Into the dtwt at numdef 6 Monty Mofe aKsd dimbs to the number 
4 suT wW Wal^ WMk i nilghtware not tar behinl, a t»g dimb from 2& to 
10 for Pyi^tm^r^ma. Orm of Vie biggest leaper^w this morrth i& l lewo n^s 
iM4i^do/>4i^d.^(V!. up^XSpbibiSlOfitJmbBr ^2. Witti neeily twoMaehstaei 
voing. Uitimete s IhFFd irt the tiogy. Kr»#g^r U>f^, haa QPPMTtf Itam 
Mwhere £ii the 23 po&Hiori, «nd mat makes UltimAte look sal to Mm m 
In^edibtt rword lor the iw ^^^ ptaom m Urn dian Gyite 1 fMf nmr 
ifTivete thi§ month D^us Em Mac^ma from JUrtometa, a rara Nbh arrtry 
fcsr an adventure Irom Derefa; Blaster's Ken£rf/a at 32. the Gargoyle Ttr N^ 
Nog el 40. Af^ an ironic ootifriing dl Qyloki^lva s Aji; ^/racJc at 43 and 
Z&nb^ ZmMm M 44. Dertia^ dier oema Jmp^ give Micromage yel 
anoihef chart antiy. JCoteft»f HMf mMea a cimb dr 9 pCaoes. a/^ IM- 
bouma'aSherlpafcalioolmbavipal, 13plaoeeuptoZ7. 



ijOfti& 0/ MdntgM ^m Hes second lo S^erfeclr, but MMght help ti on tfie 

wayn With It^ reJeas^ oi fQllqw up Ooorrxf^ks Rev^ervge^ A alft f liiio fyih 

for !tie U^ oomes Irom new company Miiar with their maiveHdua €M of 

the Shadows, sAraight in lor the First time at ninnber 3. The Adventore 

tf>irt car!adf% movea aroiatf a M, and SnoH^ie// w^^ 

monlti'e 9, la beck up lo Ms month's 4 position. LaMl 9 are well in, 

h o iia v ar.aabrwKl new ffaiym to fdsfidoeto In rM 

newpowwB ara rower of Despaiir Inm Gsnies Worfmhop all 1 . third in 

the Kef Trilogy. ThB Fwmf Mission from Inosntive 



BRILL 'N' FAB 
HOTLINE PRIZES! ! 



Whether you phone or write in, all names go inlo the 
voluminous bag lo be drawn monthly. First out receives 
£40 worth of toftwAre plus a CRASH tee shirt, and the 
five runners -up receive three issues of CRASH free plus a 
CRASH tee shirt. 

Others may try and copy us but the CFIASH HOTLlNe 
CHART IS the one that counts - and you are the people that 
make it count. 



YOUR VOTE IS EXTREMELY 
IMPORTANT — USE IT PLEASE! 




f 




PRODUCER 



Address 



1 



I CRASH HOTLINE WRITE IN COUPON My top five favourite programs m descending order 

I Please use block capitals and wnle clearly! ^^^- ' 

I Wame TITLE^ 

I 

I 

I 2 

I "'•■ - 

I i 

I Send your coupon lo: CRASH HOTLINE. PO BOX 10. ^ 

I iUDLOW. SHROPSHmE SY8 1DB 1 

106 CRASH Christmas Special 



--! 



1 



CRASH HOTLINE 



This month'8 Hotline wrnnor is Darren Ca^le, 
Beckenham. Kent< and the four runners up are; Rhys 
Davl«s, Woc^ton. Leicester; Richard Hilton, Cofg Patk, 
Amersrvam. Bucks; Justin Driver, WostdJtt-on-Sga, 
Essex; A. WKchdl, Aiveston, Bristol 



for the 



VOTE 
CHARTS I 




TOP 50 FOR JANUARY 



](Figfirwn n jivin^im .tidloiCt liflifiiNiifi'^piHKviji 



1 M' SABRE WULF Ultimate 

2 f ?■ LORDS OF MIDNIGHT Beyond 

3 (7, OALEY THOMPSONS DECATHLON 

Ocean 
' i MONTY MOLE G 

f MATCHPOINTP. 

{ f UNOERWURLDt 
i jETSETWlUYSo; 's 

' f ' FULL THROTTLE M'UMjnivya 

i ' ATIC ATAC Ummate 
PYJAMARAMAMikroC 

11 CODE NAME MAT Microfriega 

! THE LEGEND OF *^'*LONHewson 

1 LUNARJETMAK Me 

AUTOMATA 1 

MANIC MINER oottware Projt 
MOON ALERT Ocean 
If TLL Vortex 

KOKOTON1WILF Elite 
I , WHEELIE Microsphere 

i CHUCK IE EQG A&F Software 

: i KOSMIC KANG A Micromania 

: TRASHMANr .ineratton 

I KN^GHTLORhJ^^.mate 

I ANTICS Bug^Byte 

PSYTRON Beyond 
1^^ ' WORSE THINGS HAPPEN AT SEA 
Silversott 
!7 SHERLOCK MeJboume iu^:>u 

? THEHOBBITMelHniir'.pHc i^r 

I BEACH-HEAD L 

^0 STOP THE EXPRESS Smdair 

\-i DEUS EX MACHINA Aulomata 

KENTlLLAMtcromga 
AD ASTRA argoyle Games 
4 DEATHCHASE Micromega 

THE HULK Adventure Intemattonal 

FOOTBALL MANAGER 

Add!. 

7 FRANK N.STEIK S 

1 SCUBA DIVE Dureii 

) POGO Ocean 

40 TIRNANOGGargo, ms 

^1 FACTORY BREAKOUT Pop? 

I THE QUILL Gilsofi 

I ANT ATTACK Qni-kc;,),,.-? 

U ^OMBIE ZOMBI f 

JETPACl 
ANDROID ,1 

f/ CAVELON :n 

1 FIGHTER PILOT Digital Intec; 

f JASPER MECfomega 

' ; ,. PYRAMID Fantasy 




This months Adventure Trail wtnner is; Neil G. Mllnt, 
Parkneuk, Dunlermiin©, Fife, Mark Watts, Norwich, 
Norlolk: Wah WW Wan. Uvefpooi; Stewart Shellard, 
Anchorage Parte, Portsmoyth, Hanta; Richard 
Blachford, Sundridge Parte, Bromley, Kent, 



CRASH ADVENTURE CHART 



SHERLOCK Meiboume House 
LORDS OF MIDNIGHT Beyond 
OUT OF THE SHADOWS ^' 
SNOWBALL Level 9 

KENTILLA Mrr^mmpoa 

HOBBITMc ^e 

RETURN TO EOENI Level 9 

WAYOORt M S. 

HULK Adventure Int^srriatnnal 

URBAN UPSTAR d 

TOWER OF DESPAIR 

Gr~ ■ <shop 

QU^^, . ^i THE HOLY GRAIL 

Dream Software 

THE FINAL MISSION Jncerr 

CIRCUS Channei 8 

COLOSSAL ADVENTURE Levei a 

GOLDEN APPLE Artie 

ESPIONAGE ISLAND Artie 

ORACLES C Ave Dorcas 

VELNOR^SLAtRQu" "' - 

TEMPLE OF VR AN h . e 

TEN LITTLE INDIANS Criannel B 

VALHALLA Legend 

SHIP OF DOOM Artie 

MAGIC MOUNTAIN ^^rms A5sr>r:iatP-s 

LORDS OF TIME 

MOUNTAINS OF KET is j 

McccAr^r CROM ANOh^^,*.tDA 

TWIN KINGDON VALLEY Bug-Byte 
HAMSTEAD Meiboume 
INCA CURSE Artie 



CRASH Christmas Special 107 



^ 




Newcomers to the Spectrum will 
be faced with a difficult choice. 
To Spectrum or to Spectrum +, 
that is the question here . 




Th@ ZX 61 m&fnbrai^ keyt^oard oomplairrts had iwt even tad»dp 
¥if1i#n the Sped rum mbber keys were already getftng the fuS 
tj"«aimeni frCNTn not loo happy users Given th« fact thaiE most 
competitors have a typewriter style keyboard, there was no way 
that this srtuatiori couid continue . Tiueenoogh. Sir Dfve has had 
to give in to Ih^ cornplainis ^nd prov^di the &pectnjrn with a 
better input lacility H^s main objective obviously is to fcHing the 
Spectrum in line with the lik^ of Cocnnxxiore and MSX. By 
doing Ifiis h^ has eliminated one of ttie maiof arguments against 
tt^ purchase of the Spectmm, but at a cost. The phoe of the 
Spectrum Y has nearly readied the Commodbre level , and the 
qbostion m whether the extra fifty pourxls are wisely invested 
Anybody expecting to have got away from the membrane style 
keyboard wiil vmy soon be disillusioned A look at the 
c^mstrudion of the keyt>oard will soon verify, why the action of 
the new keyboard does not live yp to the oosnietic 
improvements. Hidden beneath Ine excellent double inje<Aion 
moulded keys is a modified version of the rubber mat which is 
responsible tor the soggy return force ol the keys. The 
collapsible domes are actuated by a nylon plunger, whidi 
provides guidance tor the long travel The early complainte of 
ke/top losses is due to aji error in tooling, which does not 
pfovifde a pressfit between the plunger and the keyfop. There 
shoyw be no proWem in correcting this problem on further 
production The new key lay-out wrth the extra keys has 
incraaaed the layers in the membraine TTieaxtra keys improve 
program input tfemendously. Of significance are espedaity tfie 
mtefKJed mode, the edit and delete a/Kl th© punctuation keys. 
The ^>eda} cursor keys are especially useful for the adit mode. 
Anybody conskjering upgrading #ie standard Spectrum with an" 
add-on keyboard wilTfindTthat for the same extra cosi the qualtty 
of the key action wiJl definitely be better, but that very row addn^n 
keyboards will offer the extra key facilities provided wlh the 
SpectnjmY and rf so. at a higher cost The annotation of the 
keys is excelJent and the doubleshot technique guarantees 
unlimited life and no fading of the lettering. None of the add-on 
keyboards can match flie Sfndair version. Criticism has been 
raised for the lack of cotour coding as with the ongrnal Spectrum 
keyt>oard. but the various nxHJes are deaity defined by the 
po^oning of the teoends. 

In cortdusion, it will be very difficult to make an otitnght dedsicxi 
as to whether to go for an add-on keyboard or to go far the 
official Sinclair version. Tooch typists won t have trouble in 
reaching a fast decision, but I suspect 99^ » of Spectrum owners 
don't fan into this categocy. For these it will be a matter of 
pemonal choice. 

108 CRASH Christmas Special 





^ WIN A JOYSTICKT 




The COMCON retails at £19.95 and ts • liMful sup- 
plement that is easily programmed toenabl« your |oy* 
«tlck to wofk with any game, Ttiere are slit function 
connectors which you simply plug into the approriate 
Spectrum key on the mimick panel and, presto 1 You're 
away I 

The COMCON features two independent fire actions - 
Photan Blasters and Neutron Bombs at the touch of 
your finger. There is also an extension port for other 
add-ons like Currah IMicrospeech or for connection to 
a proper monitor. 

The COMCON is compatitile with all Atari type |oy- 
sticka (which means lu3t about everythmg on the mar- 
ket). The joystick action is also compatible with any 
add-ons. including Microdrive, making for a truly ver* 
satile peice of equipment. Should you be the owner of 
a new Spectrum • , don t worry, tPie COMCON ftts that 
too. 

As a testimonial to the usefulness of the COMCON 
Interface, all we can say is that the CRASH reviewara 
have been using it since it came out, and none of them 
would be without one now. 

If you would like to win a COMCON Joystick Interface, 
all you tiave to do ie bring your powers of obsveration 
to bear and study the two pictures below. Aa you can 
sea they future Oli-buga making off with their copy of 
the COMCON (these things are everywhere!) The two 
pictures appear to be identicalt but there are 10 dif- 
ferences in the one on the right. Circle the 10 dlf* 
ferencea on drawing B, fill in the coupon (you can 
photocopy It if you prefer) artd aend it to: COMCON 
COMPEimON, CftASH MAGAZINE, PO BOX 10, LUD- 
LOW, SHROPSHiRS SY9 1DB to arrive no later than 
first post on Ja/Tuary 18 1985 



Add something very special to 
your Spectrum by winning one of 
five COIVICON Programmable 
Joystick Interfaces 

by FREL LIMITED. 




110 CRASH Christmas Special 




( 



INTERFACE!! 




CRASH Christmas special ill 



J 





EM '85 ?. 



FRANCO FBEY PEERS AHEAD AT A NEW HARDVWARE YEAR 



1985 could wtBll be ttie year of 
the modems. Several 
eom panics havedfivfilopod low- 
CiOsi units whkh «nabi« 
Sped rums Tocornmunrealtvia 
the tefe phone lines, TTie lech- 
notogv is theron but what about 
|l^ ilSMpclfor this device? An 
otovious plus is the access to 
T0l0ie)(t ser^k{:essuch as 
Prestef. CeefaK. Oradtt^ 
MJcronet 800 etc. 
Ities^ services offer enough in 
\98& to wartant the ca-pital 
investment of a modom remains 
lo be seen How many houi^h 
holds have a TV set wrth Teletaxt 
facilities which, ^fier the initial 
few days Qf curiosity ^ never get 
kmmiBf^\n7 Elect rpmc nnaNbox 
iervkes may prove ^oo ejcpens- 
ive tor private Msers, bul v*rfio 
knows what the postal rates will 
be like neic^ year. The rnodem 
may I inM'Up computers betvveen 
fiiends^ but many will be put off 
by ihe enormous telephor^ 
bills. Still, perhaps this fS a new 
wavoNraf^amitiing love letter*, 
Of copies of p i rai ed gam ps , or 
iyst generally making new pen- 
friends Imicrofriends. m ihi^ 
case)> 

A f ai r nii mber of Spectf um 
owners will by now have 
eoqyired the long awaited 
mtoodrives iS^wiM probably 
w&B llie new wa ferd r i ve s i eke on 
Whrtherthe extra reliability is 
worth the extra price wfII 
depend on ihe indrvidual (The 
price of the wafe^rrve 
cartridges certatnly SKceeds the 
^ndair versions J Persona Hy I 
me mofe tise in a low cust 
floppy disk drive system. Just to 

E rove the potnt, Timex hsva 
junched e 3- inch disk system 
which also incorporates e com- 
munications devioe with two 
serial parts. Basically it is an 
fnterface/micfodrive 
replace nienl providing superiar 
S|>aed and re^abiEity \o the 
rniccodrive unil. This could be 
the real small business user 
ui>grade for 1985. especiatly 
With the promise of a cpm 
upgrade 

If you are Jookjr>^ fof e hard 
copy system, the situation he$ 
improved drasticakly^ The 
Alphacom 32 printer is the 
Ipwwt entry point perhaps, btrt 
rwmtheless it is very reyablie. 
Anything more senoui requires 
either a Centronics interface or 
the Interface 1 serial commun- 
icalionsfacjlity. Either way there 
are a large number of prof as- 



sionalp low cost mairiH; and daisy I 
wheel printers or even low 
OOlOU r plofl ers wh ich have come 
withrn the reach of most horrte 
users, snd next year will see the 
prices drop even more- 
TV manufacturefS have 
realised Ihe potentiat of TV 
monitor combosp and the home 
user will combine the pufchasie 
of a computer monitor with that 
of a second TV set (at e normal 
television set prjceK The 
improvement on the picture 
quality is weM worth the expense 
^that's if you can afford ii, of 
coufse. After the li^htpen and 
the digital tracer it js the turn of 
the touchtabiei; this es cenainfy 
tfM best drawing mput device to 
me^ but with a pr^ce tag higher 
than the Spectrum itself it has a 
somewhat I imiiEKl appeal 
Robotics suffers fmm the sanr^r 
iNncss. Ah hough there is a lot of 
interesl in this n^technolo^^ 
the products suffer from a far 
loo nigh entry ievef as regards 
pricing. This is the reason why 
1 985 wil I not be the yea r of 
RZ02. But perhaps it will be the 
yearlo switch to an improved 
Gompuier. Sinclair has indicated 
the launch of a n^Ar portabie 
computer with CMOS power 
reauirements and f Eat screen 
tedhnology. MicrcxI rives will be 
irtcluded m the package. Better 
still would be the inclusion of the 
expected hard disk Nke wafer 
niemory. Whether the fiat 
screen display will t]e a oolour 
version or not has rvol been 
Indicated (the Japanese have a 
bfilliant colour LCD screen for 
f heir portable TV production)^ so 
it is urKertain whether this is a 
genm machine or not. Let's 
hofie that the Polaroid battery 
gets left behind « as anyone who 
has been usinp the Sinclair flat 
screen teJevision could inform 
you of the diabolical costs of ttw 
same. 

Looking forward to a now yaar 
can eomeiirnes be a$ tricky as 
making pools' predi^iorw^ I 



Either one gefs It right and joins 
the self-congratutatory 'I lold 
you so' prophets, or one gets jl 
entirely wrong and a^dmitsae 
much by keeping a distinctly low 
prof^ie. On rhe other hand, Of>a 
can play it safe and give awM 
broads vaque predidions and 
after tbetr mterpj^etaiion as time 
goes by. 

\ witi leave the doomidiy 
prophecies to the mora pessimi- 
stic onlookers, who have 
predicted the collapse of the 
oornputer games industry 
before Sinclair became a hotiie^ 
hold name. Computer gamei 
Bte here to stay. In some way or 
anoltier they will continue to 
capture the interest of the game' 
lovoing crowds. Although the 
games sofrware has travelled 
Mght years and reached an 
unrecogin sable level in compar- 
ison with 3 ale 1983, the periph- 
erals history still seems to be in 
its infarwy. Apart from ihe 
veriotjs peripherals which are 
easervtial and convert tt>e 
Spectrum into a minimum con- 
figuration games machine (joy- 
stick interface and sound 
amplifiers L very little has yet to 
make an impact in the add-ons 
market. The Cur rah 
Microspeech unit, which 
seerrvad to be the success story 
of yesterday, has not managed 
to make a sufficient impact on 
the software houses, and very 
few games provide an incentive 
10 splash out on a speech 
nnthesiser. Themuch-Joved 
Trade Ball stilt hasn't appeared 
in large numbers, but this could 
easity change in 1965 if the price 
drops to a reasonable level. 8ut 
if the real advantaoe of the Track 
Ball— which is undoubtedly the 
proportional speed or position 
control — is to be feh. a special 
interface will be required), and 
this in turn will have to t>e 
written. The Track Bali will face 
an even greater problem than 
the speech synthe^^iser, The 
Stack Light Rifle suMered a 



«tmitar fate, ar>deven today on^ 
a handful of programs have 
been written for this exeeJIent 
games peripheral. The buyers 
felt cheated by the sheer lack of 
software support. 

MSX? 

198S should see the make or 
break of MSX in thi^j^untry. 
Several MSX e tensions will be 
launched late next year, Anyone 
who has been to the computer 
trade shows in the Far East will 
recognise the hardware 
potential behind MSX. Probably 
the most exceptional facility is 
the link-up of the video disc 
system for the arcade-style, 
random access video backup. 
With video disc system prices 
tailing to an acceptable level, 
this means that highty compiex 
arcade games will be made 
available to you in the Irving 
room. Several systems will be 
seen where the MSX home 
computer witl be part of the Hi-Fi 
tower and fully integrated with 
the other homo le^re 
equipment, sudi as music 
Mntre, TV etc. In lliis context tfw 
computer coutd be seen as 
controller or orgianiser of home 
activities. Your evenings coiilil 
well be pre programmed fw^iat 
a thought 1 ) anoyour centre 
would provide you with dim 
I ig hts« SO mi n utes of Da f I as, the 
news, then a spot of relaxing 
music Bn hour or so of arcade 
adventure, half an hour 
communications ume with your 
modern associates and friendip 
and then finalty switch itself off^ 
mtaking sure that when you 
leave tne room the lights and 
heating go off as welL Not really 
my cup of tea, but who knows, I 
coutd have a different ouilook 
altogether at the end of 198S. in 
the meantime I'll stick to my 
Spectrum and hang on more 
and more peripherals until the 
power supply pack$ up. ^ . , 




112 CRASH Christrnas Special 



T 



Spectrum speech Synthesizer! 




The dk'tronics synthesizer, like all their other periplierab is botli Spectrum & Spectrum plus 

c(>nip$itibie, it uses the papular SLO/256 speech chip and has an atmfwt inTinite vocabulary. It is suppiied 

with a text to spei^h converter for ease oFspeecii output creation. Everything you wish to be spolien 

is entered in nornisil English, without special control codes or characters^ it is therefore extremely 

easy to use. The voicing of the words is completely user transparent iind the computer can carry on 

its normal running of a prf>gram while the speech chip is talking. 

Although there arc only 26 letters in the alphabet, letters have a totally different sound when used in different 

words For ex simple. The "a" in Hay is much longer and softer than in Hat. When you spealc you 

aulomaiically make adjustments because you know just how a word should sound. Not quite so easy with 

a computer. After looking at other speech synthesizers we decided that it was essential that the dk'tronics 

Spectrum Speech would offer a simple system that would enable the user to produce realistic speech that 

was instantly recogni liable. 

The solution to the problem was cKtremcly complicated, it required hours of programming to enable the 

computer to look at the individual letters that make up each word and compare there relative position to 

each other ttcfore deciding on the appropriate sound. 

I am delighted that we have now perfected what 1 consider to be the best Spectrum Speech Synthesizer 

on the market, one which has achieved my aim, within the limitations of the allophones, of producing realistic 

speech. 

At only £24.95 the dk' ironies speech synthesizer 
represents remarkable value for money. Naturally it is 
compatible with their other peripherals which can be used 
via the rear through connector. 
Available from department stores and good computer 
shops everywhere or direct from 
S5>^ dkUronics, Saffron Walden* Essex CBll 3AQ, ICM 

TeL (0799) 26350 add £1.25 post and packing. 







III .1. *»• 

• .mmmm ^-^****^^ . soi*^"* 1 to 



O^f^ 





A4t*r Elitt'^m d#but Quntf 
KOKOTQNI UllLF, c*iffit th« ^ I r«t 
of tht QAints itdaF^ttd from 
w«l1-l<ncwn i^m#ricari TV mfiomii 
THE FALL OUV Ci^fiich it r*vit^^ 
#cf in Iht* lmiu«>.. Thtir 
fourth gun* win b« th» 
olfickailr ncanc#d mdftptiofi 
of th* popular CAr »m«4hihg 
DUKES or mZZARD. But btfop# 
th*t iM»« cur^ look foriPiArd to 
yw% An^thtr btl i coptvr-bai^itd 
9Aff^t in ^1 RyOLF - 

At tht t iiTi« £1 » tt t»g&n 
h#^ti*tiOh« for tht rJghts 
to th# ■trl#«« AIFEJOLF h*d 
not bvvn itrn in Brttiinf mo 
in i. ttfAy it h#4s * gtrnbl V for 
tti# 4oftiii«r# hDu«#* A QMibl* 
th«t %oti^% Mk« pa^'in^ off 
h«rid«ofitl IK for tht H^dlftodm- 
b««td company t ^% AtRUOLF 
b«>i*^ 1^^ fir^t run on 
Br I 1 1 mh TtltMiftion ofkly * 
f#w wttlc» 4&0, ind Anltiml 
r*»ction* to tht itri** in- 
dicitt th*t it bii 1 t run lor 
at 1tA«t a furt^tr two ««ri#t 
4dl)#n tht prtttnt ont finiirhtm 
in th* Ntw y#ar « 

El ( tt didn't hag* it »1 1 
thtTr Own way, Tht marKtt 
for iigntng d#4l« iM»th TV 
^hoiAis 11 btcominQ txtr^mlr 
compttt t i^^t V and tht 
H«nch#ittr loftwart hou«« p 
Octan, ^itt^r^ «l«o alttr « 
I ictnct for AIRUOLF. 

For tho^t Miho ha^tn't 
actually *»tn any of tht 
pr OQr ammt 4 y* t , A I RklOlF 
i^tarft JAN HICHAEL giNCesTT 
and ERNEST 6QR0NINE, a« th* 
pilot* of h#1 icopttrt* Jan 
Hi chat 1 Uinttnt play* a 
htro lAilth Iht unnic«1y nantt 
of StringftHdhi Hah#k , t^ho 
im conttantfy trying to rt^cuv 
h 1 1 brothtr. f^atu^ally thtr* 
art fn^ny difftrtnt advtnturvft 
to iiitptdt him tamlCi Quit* a 
ftiM of thtm tnvolving tht 
r*mcu« of Santini <eorgnint> 
-* a man aluayi getting miKtd 
up In %om*lhin9 or othtr a 
bit on th* mhaidx midt. 

But th* rta! mtar of tht 
mtritt h% th* ihark*1ikt 
montttr f tQhting mac hint 
cal ltd AIRUOLF, a htlicopttr 
capabi* of taking out a mmaM 
army iingi* hand*d. It 
%% All^OLF and \X% Miazing 
capabilltitm around which 
EH t» haut eonmtructtd thtir 
nt^ gamt , 

Tht bamic objtctivt #oM- 
ow« that o# th* TV m*ri#». 

114 CRASH Christmas Speda! 



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<ii1tJdt AIRWOLF 0+ eogfM) 
Afid yoy mu»t rt^cut your 
brothtr Mho h*» b«#n imprk«- 
Dn*d »qm*whtrf in4id# « dt*p 
CAMtrn complvM* Tht gam* i« 
b&i.«d on A 14 «cr««ri grid of 
four b)^ f our p but only tKt 
outvr tcrtrni Ar# um«d for 
plAxing^ making 12 «n «n . 
Th»i* art linked tithtr 
v*UcAll>^ or hor I zon^al I »^, 
*rid tt I »n ' t jumt « qutmtion 
of Q*tling through ont And 
th»rt onto tht n«xt« Advtfilur# 
t1#ifitnts drm«nd lh*t you 
dimcou^tr hou tht tcr»#nt, «nd 
whit happtnt m thtm, r#l*t* to 
tftcti oth^Tf Afid you mkl\ li*u# 
to i<lyanc# to a icr*«-n, do 
sofntth-inQt ^^^ th*n return to 
an tftrlltr vcrven tijht'rt >^our 
«cthon» h»y# tt t#rtd tht cir- 
cum*t*nct*. btfor* carryiftg o#i . 
Th» g»fiie tt*rt* in th* co*d 
Afht^rctie MounlAJnt (the colour 
«cr«*n dump) and *ndft in th* 
bDhi*1ft of th# glAfit it«vt iy^trm 
which you wkll hnv* to *xp1or*. 
Th* 4cr*«n pictur*« on th»«* 
p*g*m dir* from dumpi iiiiiLd* Ay 
Elit# for thi* *r*«cl*, *nd *t 
»uch th*y do not cont^tn »ny 
graphs c« of AIBWOL*^ iti*H* To 
g*t a gl ifhp*« of th* f«bu1oi»i 
michkn#t you uiiM htv* to h»*tt 
for th* full r*vi*iM n*Mt month i 
or bur A copy *« loon «^ U''« 
r*1#ftt*d- 




CflASH 



*^^5ftnasS0eciar 



115 




The Red Kipper Flies at Midnight 

You GET HOME ONE EVENING tD discowr a message on your 
answering machine. Something yoii'd thought hidden for good 
has leaEed its u^ head once again. Valkyrie 17 is active. 

Over the r^xt five nights a series of frantic phone calk con- 
vince you that the matter deserves Eirthcr iiwestigition. ^&u receive 
a dossier on the activiiies of Vdkyrie 17. Pieced together from frag- 
mentary reports culled from the bst forty years you slo^'ly begin to 
put the whole thing togethet Drakenieut, Heinrichand R^ichsmuUen 

The badge pressed into your hand on the station j^ . 

And that last cksperate caU for help from die Glitz Hote! overlooking 
Lake Bruntz. 

l&ur coMcr b good. \^ry good in faa. Iibu spend a few 
days sniffing around and then bead up towards Lake Bmntz. You 
check in to the Glitz HoieL Its the last lead you have, \bu seem to 
be getting nowhere. 

Then on your way to the bar you sense a movement in the 
shadows. You. feet a blow on your temple. And eveiything gaes blade... 

Valkyrie 17 is an Adventute featuring both graphic and text 
locations, "ibu will meet several different characters sotne of whom 
may help you while odiers see your detnise as their sole purpose b life, 

Ir^luded in the pack is a comprehensive dossier on VaJkyrie 
17, On the reverse of the cassette tape are the answerphone message 
And then of course there's the game itself. 

U3ADIN QTI ME SHmhmtea. MICBODBIVE VFEWHilCrTlON 



UKXriONS 



100+ 



RINHICTOAS 



lEVEL 



SOUND 



HINTS 

Watch your back, tiy not to get killed and miml your lai^^iaage. 



MyiitDiii 



by PriM« Vigil M II HM^toi Boad, UidH ElO TIL TeMom: 01-1^ 




!»■ 



DEREK BREWSTER'S 




Rail 



Our Adventure Trail cofumntst, DEREK 
BREWSTER, sums up his feelings about fihe 
state of Spectrum adver}tures as we prepare to 
enter a new year .. 



i 



THE VICTORIAN CHIP 



AOVarruRINQ. as so many 
liivQ cofH9 to know rt. began 
iMi a iralntrwne and a copy of 
CqIomS CavemwhicA mm% 
now is availbale for the bonne 
micro. Why shoukt this be so 
¥rf>©n the technscal improve- 
fiwits tn the writing ifKl 
inplemantation of advefrture 
h^ increased marl^edty since 
thai time? TTie reason gives a 
due to the special amibuie^ 
every popular adventure pos- 
sesses, namety, a plot m wtiich 
an adventurer can loM hlm^ 
sad. The problams must be 
pilched iompewhere in that nar- 
row band virhere they are dHf- 
Icutt and thought-provoking 
but. hopetuKy, entirety logical 
Bui Mhere an adventure realty 
fhQfm ite dats li when it often 
hn Ih© e>fpk^ef preoccupied 
wHh two or noore problems at 
the same time ami can enable 
progress by more tfian ofi^e 
solution, 

In an sditwial seme months 
igo I oommented on how it is 
unvrf&a for a company to 
feiease too many games on a 
modular basis it wouk] seem 
tite advtoe to som^ eifteni is 
unrteceassary as market 
torces have (otMd more selec- 
tive n^aases from both adven- 
turn and arcade cainps alike. 
CRASH was cntidsad soma 
iitt ago for reviewing aJl 
ganiis released instead of ju^ 
those that ment distinct ior^ and 
fek the irony is, of the plethora 
of publications ^t line the 
newsagems' shaJves. CRASH 
m now the one, with rts CRASH 
SMASH awards, to distinguish 
and more oveflly pf a^se tinose 
games of the highest daibre 
every month. These p*dc oi the 



bonctip cor^sWering how far 
software has come in the last 
yaar; are great games in<leed - 
a tiip to the arcades i^s pos^ 
tively dull when compared to 
the diok^ and quality now 
available in millions of homaa, 
Gamaa playing has come a 
lora way and will go much 
further 

People's eKpectations of 
game software is much higher 
tfran whan microcomputing 
was a fresh and novel pasum©. 
Everyone tried thetr hafxl at 
programming because they 
thought that's what mio^os 
wefe lor - to learn all about 
programmi r^, and the stan - 
darid of software was Initially 
low enough to encourage 
imitation and even improve- 
maifl. Howev^, people wara 
soofi giad to sea their com- 
pulefs do anything followJfig 
their own frumps struggles. 
Now the scene is differant; 
many sw their computers iot 
wftat they are - gartias 
machir>es- 

Take the Spedfrum's main 
rtvaJ. the Commodore 64. 
Whm\ first majketed. it was as 
a business computet to the 
incredible eirtant that it was 
only to be had in bt^aine^a 
shops. The interar^^ was you 
couldn't have it for anything as 
frivdous as playing games. 
Hindsight, and in partial lar two 
mnportant factors, made things 
dearer. One. the amval of a 
small business computer on 
the scene wtlh the likes of the 
Advance lined up wfth the 
Spectrum and ttta C64^ whidi 
oave the IJa te Vrm Idea that a 
business system coukj cost 
anything less than £1000, 



Two, playing gamoi isn t quiia 
the frivoJoyft nofiamtty so«T»e 
might have had us to believe 
At a time when enfi;rfc<t^ leis- 
ure is the order of the day. play- 
ing cwTxputer games is a mudi 
better recreation than watuh- 
ing feeble-minded qui^ shows 
on TV (Chanel 4 made a brave 
attampt to keep 1eievjti4un alive 
but alas the»r r^^ve faded 
with their fortunes) Ccifiptiler 
games are soplAMcMtod 
enough to t>e tntallectualty 
demanding: adventures Etre 
used in education as they are 
better, certainly rnore enter ^ 
taining, than the presaibed 
medid ne while tha ar t;ad€ sMda 
has given briilh lo genuinely 
instructive simulation prog^ 
rams Speakjr>g as one who Is 
suspicious of the very woftl 
education, I think rt unlikely that 
much good will com« of edu- 
cational software marketed as 
3Udni baOer for games to 
iDaooma more entertaining, 
thought-provoking and infor- 
mative. A return to Vidorian 
Values te one thir>g, being 
txired to t^rairKleath b qurte 
anoVhar. 



Cokisiidi CBvem 8f»wnad 
rnany text-onty adventures in 
ttusi edrty day** uf home com* 
pifUny but ^uiim Juminariea Of 
the ujfiiputJi^ priiss tall woa* 
fulfy shiQil c? 0>air roles to 
inform ol the diftefencas bet^ 
wtM^i a krkoc^ttd oil job and the 
progriini ol several months 
boubatign This puzzled me 
enou#i (bmught 10 a head ha V- 
ifig read a guide-book to 
amnlureti whiijh was the 
most partisan load of dnvel) to 
encourdye nw own er^try onto 
the scene a/id tho views which 
folow. 

The modern equivalent of 
tf^ original good, mostfy 
Basic, le^-oniy adventure is 
tfie Kef Tfikjgy, a aeiiaa of 
advaniwas maitsad by thair 
sansiMy ch^p pdoa. super 
atmo6(^ere. easy and logical 
problems. and user- 
mendttness A company that 
had madiine uxle yaiii^ nght 
from the staJl was Artie Dxn- 
puting, who producad highly 
conipeteni adventures witn 
prii^lefiib that leiu themselves 
well to a nnw nragazina 
ptianortienon. Itie adventura 




hjmi^ itiffB^ton jfldyipNini Bid 
how ovdbt^-cNii^iV-llitWMh 



i^i i^gcjibJiry and I 



IjOQE: ilAteii ITwlQ^ Cri Vwpi^ttev 






ADVENTURE 

TRAIL REVIEW 

RATINGS 






AV£MQ£ OF TIC OnC^ FIATIN08 



I 



CRASH Christmas Spedat 117 



h^p page, since th^ wme 
vwy dftfioutt and had but 000 
sdution. Tile earty games 
were dinical by today's stan- 
dards, needing Ihe methodical 
ap{>foadi of the crossword 
devotee with liwe attention 
paid to building up a consistent 
atmosphere. The early Artie 
software deady had some 
appeat beyond tnat of its com- 
pelitars but had one cfetfnction 
which was to prove decisive in 
the struggle for survival in a 
very compel etive marhet - the 
tofi^are was in your local 
Oomputer shop arid you could 
actual^ hand over your money 
^\d buy it. 

Graphics were the next 
obvious improvement but alas 
many earty eftorts resulted in 
poor graphics or slow 
r^ponse times. However; one 
game stood out like no other. 
Based upon one of the most 
famcuis wofks ol fantasy fic- 
ion^ it mart^ed a new era in 
book/computer program ti&- 
Ins, but more tellingly, in big 
Hnanoe and high pressure 
salesmanship A eottaoe 
industry now seemed on the 
brlnh of renting out office space 
throughout the land but no one 
was complainifW «ef the new 
oommerdaiism becai^e it had 
produced a computer program 



every M as good as the adver- 
tisment suggested. It was> of 
(xxsrse. The Hobbit from Met- 
bgume House. Years ahead of 
its time with super graphics 
aixi the first game to atlempt 
true charaeier interaction. 
Later a similar game to The 
Hobbft prided an option for 
those who had maaiered Ite 
complex jty Fantasia Diamond 
from Hewson Consuttants had 
an ifiteresting storyrline and 
endearing characters. 

Cha/acter interaction was 
vksjbifv demon^strated in 
another megagame of 1983. 
Valhalla, which introduced 
animaiion to adventunng, but 
BasJo was too slow for the pro- 
ject and it is doubtful wtiether 
the interactions were ever laily 
inteJligefit. Unlike The Hobbir, 
the game didn t quite live up to 
the adverts. AnimaHon may 
well prove a redundant off- 
shoot for the yn modified Spec- 
trum since it adds litije to the 
Intelligent^ of an adventure 
but consumes a vast amount of 
memorv ^ memory better used 
increaMng inleraction with the 
oomputer. Character interac* 
tion has recently reached a 
new level of intelligence wrth a 
further breakthrough from 
Melbourne House. The worthy 
successor to Th e Hobb^ .Sh^r- 



tock In the er>d proved too 
arriMllous btit nonetheldss is a 
significant milestone on the 
foad lo inteHigent diaracters 
Perhaps with the removai d 
ttie inadequate graphics (a 
ooncessjon to market forora) 
the game could have struck out 
more dedsively along the patti 
of meaningful character 
interaction wrth this becoming 
the sole selling point. What- 
ever. Sherlock w^TI become a 
memorable mitestone 

The Ouiil has given the 
chaiKse to many who haven t 
got the time or inclination to 
program a machine code 
game from scratch, and who 
can btame them . it ts detmtabl e 
wfiether any 40K adventure 
needs to be 100% machine 
code Gil softs c/eation has 
lead to a great surge of adven- 
ture feleases but most, sadly, 
do not acknowledge the need 
to give the customer a much 
greater depth in theme and plot 
in return tor the hmtotions 
impOTOd by T^e Quitl. How- 
ever, notable exceptions are 
dassics in their own right: 
DBnts Through ffte Drinking 
Glass, Nampsfead and Toiler 
0/ Despair. The Ouffl is just the 
ff^j&t public face of a good 
numtw of uliliti^ employed by 
many adventure software 



houses. Level 9 make r^ sec- 
ret of their own a code' us^ to 
devise Snowball and boast an 
evarHnoittsIng Ittwiy of com- 
pfession tm:hnk|ues used to 
instigate the Jikes of Return to 
B(fen . These gamw are twice 
the length you might e)cpect df 
a well-wrftien game and are. in 
addftion. user-friendly, highly 
mtelltgent and imaginative, 
wtth good dwchpticra pn> 
diichtg a rich atmo^ere 

^ifcmt as some peopie took 
wrtti suspidon toward a Quilled 
game (has it Jusi been 
knocked-ofi?} so ttiey might 
well be wary of the five or six 
part mega^ame. Domarks 
Euraka! is composed of many 
parts, like Mastervisions 
Wrath of Magra, but it is my 
view that such games are 
overty involved and con 
voluied. and this apparent 
complexity is to smokescreen 
what is a shortfali in prog- 
ramming skills; si^e ls simply 
not an important factor, any- 
one can write 200K oi 
gobbledegDok 

Some joymalists are forever 
going on about the great 
American Software invasion 
from across the Atlamic bul 
perhaps it has dissipated 
against our shores and I am 
sure even a fijghi out to the 



VOTING FOR 
THE 

ADVENTURE 
CHART 

The CRASH Adventure Ctiart 
has picked up considerably 
since we first introduced i^t. with 
more and more votes oomir>g 
In every day! To make life 
easier for sorting, we are rxw 
pfovkJing a Separate wrtte^in 



form, so please use It for the 
Adventure Chart, and no* the 
one included at the bottom of 
the IHotline details If you are 
vming on both charts, you ruay 
serxJ Doth fqrmB together in the 
same envelope of course 

How to registtr your votes 

There aeen^ to have been 
some confusion in the minds of 
voters for the Adventure Chart, 
so to clarify the situations, 
here s how we do (t You may 
vote for at many titles as you 
wlah (not just five as in the Hot- 
line Chart) ami you may award 



any 0* them points out d ten 
So, for Instance, vou might 
vote for seven titles givir^ 
each of them ten points if you 
think they are worth it, or onty 
three and give them one each. 
These votes are then added up 
for ea^ tilte and Ihe total is 
divided by the rnimber of peo- 
ple who voted for the program 
resultirig in an aggregate 
figure. From these figures, the 
top thirty adventure games are 
taken in descerKJing order. 

Phoned-in vqIot are 
acxepted over the Hotlirve 
(0584 3015) in the same way 
(please slate that you are v<m - 



ing for the Adventure Oiart ai 
the b^inning), and may also 
be wrtttan In tatter form without 
the UM of the coupon if you 
prefer 

Adventure Chart Prize 
Draw 

And dont foiget that, like the 
Hcrtline Chart, you can win 
prizes! Each month we draw a 
winner from the voters, who 
receives E40 worth of software 
and a CRASH T-shirt, with four 
njnners-up each getting a 
T-shiri and a mini-suracriplion 
to CRASH for three months 



I ADVfflTURE CHART 

I COUPON 

I 

1 



Remttnber - points out of ten for as rrtany ttttes as you wWi 



Nwne ^ 
Arttfasa 



h ^ 4 >■ ■■ V fe-:* #■_* ##*#»■•#■*■■■ f9_ ■ r* *■* * 



I I ■ 4 » P ■ 



. 4 « « Hi »" » « i 



I 
I 

I poetoode 

I 

f 

Serxl your coupon to CRASH ADVENTURE TR AlU PO BOX 10. 
I UJDLO W, SHROPSHIRE S YB 1 DB 

I 

116 CRASH Christmas SpQciai 



jl 









GaiKiovLe (mh\& 



£9.95 



48K ZX SPECTRUM 



Tir Na Nog-the land of vouth, the otiier world. 

TJr Na N04 - the kingdom of the stdhe, the home of dagda's cauldron. 

Tir Ka Nog -a wast and complex adventure, in a magical cettic landscape. 

Tir Na Nog-a most stunning visual eMperience, with state-of-the-art filiii 
animation. 

Iff Na Nbg»a true computer movie. 



ALSO FROM GARGOYLE: 



AO ASTRA - £5,95 



GARGOYLE GAMES, 74 KING STREET, DUDLEY, WEST hfflDLAIVDS. TEU DUDLEY 238777 



States wouk) only ooofinn mat 
which I have long suspected - 
there's precious little 1o shoal 
abcKJt above the razz malazz . 

One game released this 
sirmmer was so onginal and 
Qiutstandingty brilliant it caught 
many on the hop just as they 
were about to forget of 
software innovation until the 
autumn. Lords at Midnight 
represefited a significant leap 
m programming skills used to 
develop an enbrely new 
theme. The Land of Midnight is 
an e)rtraordinary invention and 
anyone who has r>ot yet seen it 
has not seen hatf of what the 
Spectrum has to offer. The 
game Is th© crowfiing jewel in 
microcomputer games respeo- 
lability. 

So what can we expect from 
ti>e ftjture? Well, graphics of a 
oorvsistently high standard are 
on the menu, but more than 
tfiis, they wtl become an 



integral part erf the advertlure 
and not Just a decorative 
appendage tacked on to 
brighten up proceedings. 
Graphics will broaden out from 
Just pictures to diagrams, 
charts and even to tine map 
that at the moment is paJn- 
stakingly cofniriitted to paper. 
The pMrtufes will cany dues 
and figures showing which 
characters are presnt. TTiese 
characfefB will be larger than 
\tts as they realisticalty go 
about their everyday lives 
cementing a greater belief in 
the whole adventure. The mic- 
rodrive will finally be expfoited 
for what it is. a refined fast 
storage device with immense 
possibilrties, and the days of 
sd Ptary computi ng may seem a 
thing of the past as the Spec- 
frums networking oapabilites 
string along the thoughts of 
many minds. 



MAFIA 
CONTRACT 

Producer: Atlantis 
Software 

Memory required: 4aK 
Retail pnce: £1.99 
Language: Quill 
Author: N, Smyth 



Attantis ere o(m of a growing 
number of new cwnpanies 
who have endeavoured to 
bring the public what it wants at 
a price it can afford. If this 
game is typioail of their rafQe 
all 1 can say fs they are doing a 
very pood }ob as Mafia Con- 
&^ct is not a bad effort arKl yet 
cai^ be purchased ,wtth onily 
one week's pocket money. 

H you have read that mar- 
velkjus book, Trte Godfatfter. 
then you'll know what to expect 
from this aame - a compelng 
mixture of criminai pewuMlon 
and dastardly douWe-deailng. 
Like in the famous book you 
are in the mO(S4 lucrative 
blackmail market outside of 
Chicago, amongst the familiar 
pattern of intersecting streets 
and avenues o( New York. You 
find yoursett. a htvnan for Don 
Capolla. in a sleazy hotd trying 
to l# low but ending up in the 
thick of It. You answer the 
phone in tepidation since sil- 
ence is only broken for impor- 
tant nmr^. and m this business 
that's always bad news Last 



nigtt Capotla's sori was 
a»i8Sinated and the gang 
hm got a list of possiW e traitors 
down to a tidy number - and 
one of the names is yours^ Don 
CapoJIa wants to see you now 
at Mario's Bar. or else. Leaving 
your room and descending rn 
the lift to the lobby you notice 
the fimt graphics which are 
very simple Ixit cjuickly and 
eff^^vely drawn The prog- 
ram is friendly and responsive 
allowing you many diversions 
from die mainstream of the 
plc3t. Fof example, ring the bdl 
at reception and you meet the 
dmnken manager whereupon 
GIVE KEY and KILL MAN- 
AGER both evoke dittereivt 
responses. 

Wandering around the 
streets, avenues and alleys 
you soon pi ok up on how to act 
streetwise if you are aonna 
make yourself into a feared 
and respected hood Sadly, 
Inevitably as you'll soon dis- 
cover playing the game, there 
is one of the most infuriating 
random killings I've ever met 
Suddenly you hear the 
screedi of tyr^ and a black 
Cadillac pulls up, 3 men iump 
out and fire continuously at 
you The txiltets rip into you. 
Within seconds you are dead. 
This passage comes up flash- 
ing glaringly al inopportune 
moments and you soon dread 
tuming mio a new location in 
case the program has voudied 
your time is up. 

Mafia Contract is very much 
worth the meagre investment 
of £1.99 and compares 



favourably with games three 
times the price, fte^wnses are 
fast and iriendly. the graphics 
are vefy simple but neat and 
weli presented and good 
descriptions add to a super, 
despicable ptot. 

COMMEKTS 

Difficulty: easy 
Qraf^ice: some, simple but 
well drawn 



Presentation! good 
Input facility: v^b/noun 
Response: very fast 
Special f eaturet: 
Oafieril rating : good value. 



Atmosphefe 


7 


Vocabulary 


6 


Logic 


7 


Debugging 


10 


Overall value 


7 




THE KEY TO 
TIME 

Producer: Lumpsoft 
Memory required: 4flK 
Retail price: £5.95 
Language: Quill 
Author: 



The Key To Time te Lumpsott'g 
firat adventure and is alt about 
a time traveller wtio w^as all the 
rage when people used to 
watch television. The loading 
screen shows a picture of a 
pottee box and tunny itWe 
rot>Dts with 3 bad case of 
metaihc pimples and tunnel vis- 
ion compounded by the pos- 
ition of their only eye on the 
end of a stalk. 

Apparently it is a bad ti me for 
lime travellers what with tsme 
storms distorting travel coor- 
dinates which might lead any- 
where and It proves imperative 
that someone recovers the 
ob|ed that can dispel the 
storms for good. Al a meeting 
of the High Coundi of Time 
Lords one senior member 
asked. Who can dispel tl^e 
time stomis? But tfiis was 
taken as a command by the 
others and so you. The Doctor, 
I ended up with the job. 




On ycMjr first attempi a! ttw 
game tt s better to ask for 
HELP rather ttmn STARTlrig 
straight off so you can gatw 
some useful informs li^on, In 
this adventure you must gykje 
yoLjr earfier per^onna by send- 
ing him messages throt>gh this 
Time Lord teiepattiic con- 
rrdter, cunningly msguisdd as 
a Sinclair SpeclRjm . Mete you 
are told of the games 
intricaofes induding a timdy 
list of recommended vefbs 
including a genera! HELP, a 
more specmc HELP(TIM€S- 
CANNER) and WAIT, T^t 
HELP is not as usefui as it 
could be because it only 



120 CRASH Christmas Special 



HAVE AN ADVENTURE THIS CHRISTMAS WITH LEVEL 9 



_ , The appearance of d ^-^ 

' "^ " a fl»9 <lav for all asi^fcnng advefi 
\ >i^4 turesand inmvriousehoid a signal 

j ft>r th€ cai lo ntde yn^er me ted for me 

^ratK>n against me inevifaD^e mom^ni 
•nensgo rarripig^tng through me flat a wild 
Witin mv eves muttenna f^rOCi^uSlv aboul tSf icklayirtg 
irffi mjflist t}^^thB% and me (ike smce ff«um w Eflm, 
11 ^eq ue« to snow&M is o wt. the ut ma v be in ^ 

IW^unDi Christmas 

itsudon t rwed to have played Snowi>3!i 
iQ9«imo m& sequel as ever tnere is 
iiiple documentation wim the tape 
in mv COTrt modo^^^ 64 w ersion 

hiiw on me Spectrum Amstrad 
WBKK is turDo loaded it starts 
M^ vou. agent Kim K^mberiv. having 
tm mrnea for so botagtng 
mster^v^i rsnowGatr in J 
mstMstratog^der 

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aalicied retribution 
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rnis ana former 
Level 9 efforts is tnat the 
spectrum and C&4 versions 
have gr aphits of a very high quaittv and\ 
can &e switched off \f required The scope \ 
of the vocabulary appears unscathed bY 
this addition 

Even expenenced acJremurers 
wili probabiY get fned a fewtim« 
Dv The avenging engines of me 
Snowoaii before discovertng now to taite 
Shelter But once mat hurdle is passed 
me real adventure begins and it s a luiu 
From me radioactive desert caused bv 
me engine etast. you progress O^rough 
a variety of hazards through some highly 
unlikcelylotatfeon$ 

I haven t ^ot to mat point yet. and so 1 
superhuman wiltpoM^r has I 

me using the due sneer 

provided, but F can t 

ho^^d out very 

much longer 

sincefamhavlr»g 

what could be 

lemaicornmunh 

catiDn propiems 

With some robots 

Ttrriflcfun but 

Should carry a 

mental health 

warning" 



L*««/d C^Hrwtpufir^ 



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Lmfmt9 CAt^KJ^ing 



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distributor! 

If vour local de esnt stock 

Levef 9 aaventu . _ , -t, u^e tr>e 
coupon to Guv tnem from us, or 
ask him to contact centresoft. 
Microdeaier UK. Ughtning. R&R, 
Letsuresoft. pcsiswj, mco. tbo etc 




€m^\ 



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poufftiTlfvotJVilbMifiPtli 
:sl DUNOOMIiiDvlPfnill «triaani 

noieA^if^* «>tTn Htf ?00D ftcHKim 



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o«M£ii« lENCLOSEACHEOUE/'POFOR £9 95 

PER CASStrre oj? «i i.ts per disk 
My name . 



UWC4 0#tiiK vtugtiuowronia F~l 



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My address : 



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My micro fc ^ 

(Cine Of thow listed Dclow wtm 
at least 52K> Send cc^uoon ito: 

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lijgh WycQm&g Bucks HPi3 $PC 



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AMSTRAD BBC CBM64 SPECTRUM MEMOTECH NASCOM ATARI 



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r^utts in a random selection 
(rom three or toijr phrases, ona 
trf which reads Never eat any- 
thjrijg bigger than your h0ad» a 
saying reminisi^ni of the work 
parodied by Lurr>p$oft's next 
pfogmm to be reJ^sed, 
Mabce in Wondertand The 
other, more specific help 
command is vefy useful in rhai 
constructions hke 

HELP(DALEK) giv© ency- 
dcapedic informaliork ooa- 
oemii>g a certain objeci or fe- 
ature, eg. cyt>ermen are 
all^ic to gold I really do tike 
this kind o' encyclopedic refer- 
ence malenal as it was what 
vra tH Ihoiight computers were 
BbOkA. indeed what they are 
good ai. untiJ the limitEtions dt 
mtcro rnefnoiy bdcome appcir- 
anl. kn Ihit reapa^. I can't wait 
to Me whit adventure games 
the QL can produce. The WAIT 
oommand begiris mimicking 
The tt^btt but soon departs 
iwftfi en amusingly prolonged 
dvef^ion. 

The vocibulary to very 
Wof^ wWi cor^rtructiora 
Wch as GOfTARDIS) and 
EMTER(CRACkj e^jually help- 
ful ar>d the plot is similarly 
resportsive: evefything can be 
examined arxl if yoy look at the 
screen you find The Tardis 
materialised. Atmosphere: 
breathable. ' Swearing will 
tJiring th# wrath of Mary White- 
house down upon your head 
leavrng you to f egerierate into 
youf next per^onna, perhaps 
this time the dva^ who is e trihe 
absent-minded and plays a 
pip^. 

Time travel is tha core of the 
9&me and if you find play reia- 



Uvaty easy as I did, then you 
will proceed Qurte quidUy 
through the five time zoMtt 
although you may well use up a 
few of the Doctor's charaders. 
Moving through the likes of 
Daleks ar>d Cyt>enmen you 
arrive at Galjifrey where you 
enter, presunr^bly, the final 
stages around the president s 
office If the games tricky 
momefiits hinder progress then 
you may have lime \o ponder 
on the difficulty of geiting any 
score higher than Of how to 
travel from one time zone to 
afiother En the Tardis, an oper- 
ation which involves a tricky 
combi nation of lever pulling 
and t>yflofk pressing. 

The K9y To Tims Is a very 
worthy effort from Lumpsoft 
combining a fnefxMy response 
with an interesting plot and 
amusing interludes. A text-only 
Qyilled game wHh a familiar 
theme but very well e^^ecuted^ 

COMMENTS 

Dtff Icutty : mostly easy 
Graphics: none 
PraMmtation: very good 
Input laciltty: verb/noun, 
prefen^ to be more complex 
but Qtfiar words are igncN^ed 
Response: very fast 
General rating: goodn 



Atmosphere 

Vc>cabulary 

Debugging 
Overall value 



7 

7 

8 

10 

7 



Eventual ty rt speaks, I curse 
vou weaklra, and with those 
few wrords i! »QOf>e. Modified, 
you look to Ian for reas- 
surance Lan chuckles ar>d 
says first you must find the 
demons name and the nature 
ol the curse. Then in order to 
ba^^sh th« demon you must 
use the greet siatt of Zaranoi 
and the tooth of a dragon. 
Finally, and most ditficult df all. 
find the Master s secret room 
becayM only there can you 
create the spell needed Prom- 
ising to help it called. Lan dis^ 
appears. 

The c^iallenge of this game 
does no4 lie in the small 
number of locations (45) but In 
the complexity of intefpfeting 
the trail of the various dues 
available. H is well worth set- 
ting off with ! for Inventory as 
you will tSnd ttie o^jed that gets 
you out of your first pre- 
dicament do^ not lie in or 
about the table, chair or old 
chest. As IS S4jggested in the 
blurb rt will pay to call Lan to 
help vrtien your owfa attempts 
come to nought If yoij are 
doing well you should soon t>e 
greeted with the 'ArthamOp . . 
wtth Ihls safely in your hand, 
draw a drde where er you 
stBJidr Arvj you would be wise 
to do exadly as Ir^tructed. 
Henca^ the room shuddefs, 

EDur vision wavers. . . ' md it's 
y way ol magic and rKM by 
Stetitt) as such that you 
escape the confines of the 
first location This mettxjd of 
advance ts repeMed dttm 
throughout ttii advmfeA, 
m«gic used wrth craft imparted 
by the books. scroHs, robes 



and staffs providing your 
means of progress and therby 
reducing the parts played by 
lengthy, invdved reasonir>g 
which IS typical of. say. an Artie 
adventure, Indeed it ts difficult 
to recall any great number ol 
real problems posed through- 
out the erflire adventure: prog- 
ress is mofftty assured by sim- 
ple exploration and examh 
nrtJon of everything about you 
The StBtf of Z^aranot is easily 
mapped, has magical proth 
iems that are quite easy and 
creates a good atmosphere as 
you move around the Master's 
CasHe, The dictionary of 
recommended veft)s and spe- 
dal verbs pf ovWed at the very 
beginning are very ireful End 
thjs along WFth the game's tun- 
damental s^mpltaty will mtro- 
duce a beginner to the deltghts 
of adventuring and perhaps 
show; once again, just what b 
great program Th& Ouill hias 
turned Duttot^e. 

COMMBITS 

Difficulty : quite easy 
Graphics^ none 
Preseniaiion: location 
descnptions in capitals and a 
little drff lOJlt to read 
Input facility: as all Ouill 
games 

General rating: one of 
C. C. S. s better gan\es 



Atmosphere 


6 


Vocabulary 


6 


Logic 


7 


Debugging 


10 


OveraJl value 


6 



Hie Staff of 
Zaranol 

Producer: C* C S* 
Memocy requfred: 48K 
Retail price: £5.95 
Language: Quill 
Author: M. J. Gearing 



You are the apprentice of 
Zaranol. Ih© Master Wizard, 
Who sturtrbles upon one of the 
Cid Master's sipell books while 
he )e anvay ai an annuaf gen- 
eral meelinq Calling Lan, your 
friend arxl helper, you decide 
to try one of the speils. Unfor- 
turiateiy all does not go ^^1. 
Dunng the spelt a demon 
appears a/id none of your 
apdls of banishmem woffc. 

122 CRASH Christmas Spedal 




The New Force in Software 



THE GAME OF DEADLY DRIVING 

BJVTTLECiiRS 

^ FOR 4SK SPECTRUM , 



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GAMES WORKSHOP is the UK s largest laniasy and adventum games com- 
pany, with ten veafsexpenei^te behind it Now we reusing our expertise to 
create the best m computer games, and the first three are BATTLECARS 
D-DAY. and TOWER OF DESPAIR each with over 90K of p^rognmmingf 
SATTLECAHS i^ the deadly sport of the luture arm yoyt battlecar with 

^ ^^^^ chosen weapons, and 

select your battltgroui^d. a 

gruelling sp«td circuit or a 

town centre labyrinth 

BATTLECARS is i one or two 

player game of skilt, nerve ami 

cur>ning 

I D DAY is i superb graphi^^ 

j wargame basaJ Ofi the fiot^ 

] mandy landings o( 1344 Two 

^, ' players lake the AHie^i and 

German sides baltfing through iour seperate scenarios D DAY offers an 
enduring tactical challenge to players lired of simple arcade action 
In TOWf R OF DESPAIR. Games Workshop has used its ten yt ars of eKperi 
ence in role playing games to create an outStandiFig adventure ft includei 
two entire 4&K programs, and a giiid^ containing a history map. and illus 
trated clues 

FOR 48K SPECTRUM AWO SHORTLY FOR THE COMMODORE 64 

f 7 95 EACH FROM ALL GOOD SHOPS OR DIRECT FROM 

MAILORDER DEPARTMEfff GAMES WORKSHOP LTD. 

27 29 SUNBEAM ROADLONDON NWIO 







THE RUNES 
OF ZENDOS 

Producer: Dorcas 

Software 

Memory required: 48K 

Retail pnce: £7.95 

Language: machine coda 

Author: Chrit Dorell 



Dorcasia was a pteasant lafUfe 
land until the wizard 

Zefxloe <^st the spelH o< 
darfcnasa, plunging the country 
Mo parpetuaJ gloom, fcxoing 
■I the dtlzens o* the tiny 
prtncipality to pledge 
allegiance to him. A hero muan 
take on the twelve drffarefirt 
adventures and nnd and 
destroy the twelve runic hour 
gle^ses hidden deep withir^ his 
magk^ caatlet re^ea^fng the 
fTKxitti & a nd returning Oorcasia 
to the natural forces of the aea- 
aona. To protect the hour 
glasses and keep their tvmc 
inscriptions secrat, Zendoe 
haa placed them in hiveive 
aopttate rooms, each linked to 
an exterior gateway by a 
devious roiile- Each adventure 
has unique spells and 
problems to ensure a new 
dialienge is prcsvided on each 
WOMion. The game features 
fuir anlmatkxi. sentence input, 
sound effects and save game 
tadirtias to tape and 
microdrive, 

When the game loads you are 
at (he sta ft of adventure one. At 
any time you can switch to the 
MHtof a different adventure by 
•nMno, for example, 
'aAmttm tight'. Status (or ?) 
g)vie InforFtiatJon regarding 
m adventure you are in: eg. 
Adwentura 1 . Stiefigth 25, Pn> 
vMons 25, Luck 10^ 
Petfoffnance BO (how much ol 
ttia adventure you have oom^ 
p(e(ed). Further infomvation 
regarding what you are 
canyir^g, the spella you krKM 
and what you are wearing ia 
also detailed. You can wear 
one item on your head and ofte 
on your body: if you remove 
somethina you wilt the«n be 
carrying it You li^in each 




adventure with a supply of pro- 
visions eaten in quantities from 
1 - 12 to increase your 
strength, eg. EAT THREE 
ttems of food akxig the way 
replenishes strength depleted 
durirw fighting ano running. 
VocaButary Is surprisingly 
particuiar as you must type in 
the exact ! etters to make up the 
required words wtth on^ a few 
stock abbreviations for left ((). 
rtflW (r), up (u). down (dk 
passage (p) and quickly (q). 
Howevef, editing mAkas ful 
use of the Specmjm cursor 
moverT>ent and delete 
functions which greatty 
fadiitates entry BsiTER 
repeats the last oommiand 
even after starting to type 
sorriethrng else if ffils is nrsl 
deleted Input can be, and 
often must t>e, quite tengfhy 
and involved, eg. ATTACK 
THE GUARD WITH THE 
MIGHTY AXE and UNLOCK 
THE DOOR WITH THE 
GOLDEN KEY. The program 
will accept Ell woidi it has dis- 
played. 

Whenever you meet a creature 
te strength and yours are dis- 
played In a pennant at the top 
left of the soreen. If a creature 
ts very strong you witi need 
mofe than your bare harids> 
Fighting is seldom the only 
option: often befriending a 
creabird or casting an 
appnopriate spell marks the 
way forward. To cast a apeH 
you must have found it first md 
which therefore will appear in 
your knowledge list in ttm 
current adventure. Using 



charrr^ aiid lucky Items may 
improve your ltid<. 
The Flunes of Zsncios la a vety 
graphically entertaining 

adventure wtth amooth, 
scrolling anintatton sending 
your character left and right 
through passageways, up and 
down steps of ladders arid 
striking btows in battle with the 
various zombies, skeletons, 
werewolves and all rnanner of 
ttcotic assailants Much of the 
lenqguage is atypkcaJ of the 
arcwle-adventure scene with I 
and r keys chosen for 
movemeni and TAKE with no 
GET option. The proems are 
k^glcelt more so than in many 
tnt amentiirM, and tt^e game 
is certain to take some time to 
complete as three hours were 
needed for the first d twelve 
sections. AWKXigh the garrie 
stands up as an adventure in 
its owi right it is the superb 
animation which will t^ the 



more immediate attraction of 
what is a very ^ne game. 



COMMENTS 

Difficulty: quite easy 
Graphics: saoiling gfaphics 
wtth character animation 
Praaeniatlofi: good 
bKHit facility: altowa 
sentences. Vocabulary small 
arK} a little unorlhodoK 
RMDonte: reasonable, 
scrdling graphics appear a bit 
slow when tn a huny 
General rating: good, I liked it 
a lot. 



Atmosphere 


8 


Vocabulary 


5 


Logic 


8 


Debugging 


10 


OveraN valu* 


8 




124 CRASH Christmas Spsdat 



From 

CILSOFT 

The Welsh Wizards of 
Adventure 

THE QUILL 

ADVENTURE WRITER 

FOR THE 

COMMODORE 64 



4gK SPfr-reillCASSETTE 
COMMOIK>Ri: 64 CASSETTE 
COMMUlHmKWDlSK 



U4M 
114.95 
119.95 



SELECTED TITLES AVAIL ABLE FROM ^ 

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Biirr> ' 

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S:((>446j7Ji276S 

( rt'dit Card Order [.irit- 24 hour t;ervice ® : i0222r 41361 o\i AM\ 



The Illustrator 



Now you can add graphics to your £ \^ aCiC 

Quill Written Adventure. m^MrT ^%# 

For use in conjunction with 

The Ouill Adventure Writing System on the 

48K Spectrum. 



:&w»l 



■"* V I- '•' « * i- I « V I « I 



■!|pil<«->*v4«vP'f'i#i t * 



Please rush me an order form and fult details of 
The niuslrator for the 48K Spectrum, 
I enclose a stamped addrcsssed envelope. 

Name 

Address 




Send to; 



(ULSOFT 

30 if ji wlhorn Koad 

Barry 

South CilamorKiiii 



CFlitLE 



CRASH Christmas Spedal 125 




The Sorcerer 

of 

Claymorgue 

Castle 

Producer; Adveoture 
Inttmatiorval 
Memory requked: 46 
Retail pric©: £9,95 
Language: machine oode 
Author: Scott Adftms 



SofcerBf of O^ymorgoe 
Castte is advenfure 1 3 by Scott 
Adams. market ed by 
AcJyenture International, ft 
follows in tha footsteps d Tf}& 
Hulk featuring supartative 
graphics at ever/ scene 
Solon the Master wizard and 
ammf di Iha Secret Coat long 
MO losi the 13 stars o1 Powar. 
Tm 6viJ Vileroth, believing the 
flBTS to be the only soiirce of 
Soloti's jxrwer. acquired these 
rragicat piiaas wt^en In fact it 
wa$ the ctoak that cx^ntrdled 
the stars. Unable to master the 
magical stars, Vitefoth'g 
9trengtti slipped away leaving 
him with no optiori but to con- 
ceal the Stars of Power vwithin 
Claymorgue Castle so no oni 
else could pc^^ess them. You 
are Bean wick. Solon's faithful 
youfig apprentice, and your 
task m to f^tiieve the 1 3 stars 
aimed with a few spells and 
with a few more to be found in 
Ihe castle, but the problem is, 
how do you Lisa them? 
The fii^t location is a super 

ri«c showing tine detail of 
turrets and battlements 
compnsing a compact, but 
nonemel»$ imposing, 

fortress If I wefe to descnbe a 
picture of a moat. surToundir>g 
a oaatie with a drawbridge, 
being a highly skilled and 
cynical explorer, you will 
immediately imagine a tidy 

Eraphrc of a draworidge whicn 
\, Of course, raised. If you 
show W ever meet an adverrtiire 
where a di^wtKidge is not 
raised . knowing the 
deviousness of nmrry 
acfventure authors, I wouW 
tread warily This first problem 
is tadcled. Hke so many in the 
adveniyre, by making use of 
the magic bestowed upon you 
from the start or to t>e found in 
ttm various nooks aixJ 
crwmkis along the way- 
Getting t^e drawt>rkige down 
(me noun needs the first five 
Wtois DRAWBK you look up to 



\\ 






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see A down in the picture - a 
tme loud^ Movir>g east onto 
the drawbridge you are met 
with a cunous sight where yoii 
are contemplating your feet 
upon the bridge overiooklng 
the moat, but if woukJ tj© wise 
to resist the temptation to take 
the plunge as it may just 
haft>our one of ttinose nasty 
sJeepir>g moat moristers. On 
the east skde ol the drawtHidge 
you see a lever set tn the 
western wait and you 'd need to 
bB half-baked or 

inappropriately impulsive to fail 
to appreciate the con- 
sequerroes of pulling rt Better 
to move furtfTor east into the 
interior of the castle and a 
courtyard with a hiighly 
decorative fountain set at ita 
middle. Enter the magic 
fountain now and it could 
signal your first meeting with 
fl>e horrific and very graphic 
depictHxi of a sneering skull 
which makes you shudder the 
first time you see N. if instead 
you content yourself tor the 
time being wlh codecting the 
goodies here, you H notice that 
the program follows what is 
fast becoming a trend. The fad 
that you have gained an object 
b r>ot acknowtedged as wdti. 
The onty indicaticxi that you 
have indeed pi deed up an 
object is that objecSs removal 




V V 




% 



126 CRASH Chrtstmas Special 




I~**« l*" * *:*»i lilt ■*'! 






'tU'. 






from the ist of visible items, 
this coupled witti tfie 
knowledge that Kad you feited 
to pld( up an ob|0ct a report 
would draw your attention to 
your lack of success. 
By ihis stage you will have 
already worked out the use o< 
one spell (at the drawt>n(Jge). 
now let's look al another two, 
Weil, Lycanthofpe m 
psychiMry <s a persori who 
believes thai he is a wotf, so 
what use the Lycanthorpe spell 
is I II leave you to dedde As tor 
frie Yoho spell it sounds lika 
yoyo and yoyos spring badh to 
your ha«f when spun, indeed, 
the Yoho span takes you batM 
to the first locadfoiv; 
unfortunatety. if you were 
dying on using it. youH still die 
al Of near the first scene Also, 
surprisingly, you are toW the 
Yoho spe^l works on the sec- 
ofKJ occasion of its use. but on 
Bie second attempt nothlrvg 
seems to happen 
Further oasi you meet one of 
those situations which you just 
kTKm will tsecome a deesic 
since it is botti deMous and 
difflcun In the t>allroom is a 
giant diandelier secured to a 
wall by way o< a rope. You dis- 
cover the deviousness of the 
problem rf you attempt the 
obvious, leading to an 
annoytngly obvfous con- 
dusion The assumption b 
you'd be stupid enough to 
stard under tt^e chandelier 
while untying it! ShoukJ you 
have tmd the foresi^hi to fetch 
the crate from the kitchen you 
would bo spared, presumably 
t)ecause the chandelier has 
leM of a distance to 1^1 before 
crashing onto your head 
Ino dental ly, GET OFF wili not 
see you m the chandelier, tHJt 
GO BALLROOM will, rather 
strange when the fomr^er does 
woffc when getting off the 
crate. 



I wonder tf this game has 
enough to keep me interested 
until tne seventh or eighth star, 
never mind the Ihirteenth, 
sinoa dearly my much effort for 
this adventure has be^ 
mvesled in producing the 
ultimat© graphics. Ttie 
vocabuiary is fnendfy, though 
restricted to vert/nttin 
ODupltngs. with constructior^ 
such as GO (FOUNTAIN) and 
ENTER (COURTYARD) both 
accepted, and it is reasonably 
ea^ to get around until the 
problenis become more 
pedartticand intraclat>le 
SorcBTBf of Ciaymargu^ 
C&sth is an offefing from a 
highly fegarded force in 
adventure publishing, Soott 
Adams Adventure 

intemEtional. Commercially it 
ts as slick. poHstned and vtably 
mari^^ed as only American 
software can t>e. Suptfb 
graphics and a racy response 
give itie game the edge. How- 
ever, you can1 help but get the 
feeling that beneath the 
ra22ma(a;^z the plot is a shade 
duti and unmspihr>g. As was 
said during a hamburger 
commerdal and the US Pre- 
sideritial Election, where's the 
meat? 

COMMENTS 

Difficulty; very ditncull 

Graphics: excellent and very 

fast 

Presentation; well laid out 

Input facility: verti/noun 

Response: very test 

Gerwal nltoig:good 



Atmosphere 


6 


Vocabulary 


8 


Logic 


7 


Debugging 


10 


Overall value 


7 



n 



CRASH Christmas Spedai 127 




Producer: Domark 
Memory required: 48K 
Retail price: £14.95 
Language: machioe code 
Author: Ian Uvingstone 



Eurek^^ is a game that follows 
ki tho fodMeps at some hoc^ 
authcmties, laige American 
Slates and daily n©w$papers 
In bfiriQing th^ iott^rv into Ihe 
Ives or the many so that they 
may have a crack at thai afi- 
toonelt^ive prire. The unHk- 
Hhood of winning the proze is 
made up in part by its sheef 
ske. In this cose Domark have 
jydgad €25,000 to be an 
vnple sum to tempt enough 
purrters to pay the game s way, 
W no one wins the prize by 31 9t 
December i965, Donfiark will 
atiaie out the prize ^uatiy. 
On© can t h^p thinking up an 
analogy with Bnlfsh telecom 
Stiares^ Ar>d hero lies the rub; I 
can't reatly judge the tssue 
tjecause Tt all depflfxte upon 
ihe view you lake on a game 
where the inlellertLiai ui^ravel- 
Ing of a siring of nddles and 
pU22Jes may gam ynu a con- 
Sidefable sum t>f money, much 
Wm a Financial Fdilor of a 
rawtpaper can only draw your 
atta^ilon to shares that may 
pfG^Me a sound rtwesime*^ - 
w'hether they are a soiind 
invMlinent depemts on how 
the market fares 

The game corner in a large 
bcw oont?»iniriq five adventures 
on the oof^ tape ^r^d^ th^n. b\ rt 
lavish, hook let Ot ttie five 
advantyres, the first lour cari 
be played in any order, the fifth 
Orrty Ofl giving th^ rr^rrf^^ 
anawo r to a sarlis of qt jesiirru^ 
an the previfujs foiir Fach of 
fte advef^ fres oontains due^ 
to the mysteiy c^Dde The 
wnmrnm to the nddets in the 
acxsompanv+rKi bo^M He 
wrttitn ihm programs, and you 
deapher ihe code into a UK 
Wephone mirrtber <istng chap- 
tar six In Hie bonklet Yn4i ring 
thafUffftiefafkfl if ymn^nrx* 
rectty an*5wef the q^iestion hy 
the do^^ng date you win the 
pri7e. A hoMtne will tell you 
wh^er Ihe pri2e has gof>i 
iiraady 

The TempofaJ Tuli^man. an 
andent artMef:* fo-jnd on the 
Moon by Ihe Apollo XVll m^- 
ikm, shaneied lirto mar^ 
piecei wtwT Butsfedwl tlo the 
Heme beami of ttia SHrVA 
Fuiion ProjecJ lasett A t>r. 
Majid has mnvinoed NASA 
ttiat he kmws where (tie mis- 



sing piacas are to be tour>d. 
Eadi piece was catapulted 
onto Time ar^ has been traced 
thus:- one m Pmhis*orlc 
Europe, Roman Italy, 
ArttH>rian Britain, Wartime 
Qemiai^y sDd the Modem 
Caribbeafi. An experimental 
dovioe. The Choneiran. wtU 
send yoy back in time lo 
rtfbievethepMicee. 

A short arcade game p^^ 
cedes each adventure and 
must b& attempted as it helps 
lo inrfease yOitf vigour in the 
advwlure if yow score over 25. 
000 points [a magic number for 
Hits game)? Every 500 points 
l>eyorYd ttw (ftves you one 
extra vtoour poin! up to a max- 
imum of too points. An auto- 
matir vKjmjr level oi 50 ^n be 
taken over to the adventure but 
only on finishing the arcade 
gamsL The object ot the arcade 
game la to cdlect the flashing 
obiects and dropping them by 
pressing ttie iRre bytbn^ Eadi 
time ih^ is etone a flashing axtt 
sign appflurs nn the screen. 
ThBOTPtirflHy you ^mn Chgose 
to bave or slay on to 3<X)re 
more points txjt In F^actioe, 
due to ifm sluggish responsa, 
press+ng Ihfl fife button just a 
^fiinin too Inng sees you stay 
(or anofhei rotund whether you 
wanted lo or not. Considering 
how mind-stupefyirigly boring 
ttite gam« is thi5 can make you 
see red. You begin to think that 
1^ feally have to work for the 
C?S, 000 - no playing around 
here 

On to the adventure rtselt 
SJr>oe I ooiikt load Arthuria/i 
Britalfi straighl away I started 
with itiSs foUo^ad by RomaA 
Huly I say could leaa because 
if you should find any ditf Jculty, 



like myself, in toading arry part 
you could well be in trouble. All 
five games are contain ed on 
the one cassette and the 
search, rewirKl and fast lor- 
ward when irytng to tocate the 
start of a section may result in a 
damaged tape. Domark may 
wDnry at the possibility o1 many 
tapes t>eing returrNsd^ 

There is no save facility 
undertining the fact that ttiis 
product seee itseK as little 
nrwa tt>an a competition with 
none of tfie usuual courtesies 
afforded adventurers, This 
omissiwi is compounded by 
ttie irritation involved in having 
lo start at the beginning when 
kilted whereupon a 35 second 
wait is necessary before 
recommef>cir>g. The Roman 
lialy section Is rnade difftcurt by 
the use of Latin throughout but 
in ai>othef part one problem is 
a Qnf Bsmm to Star Trek fafks 
(can ydu Defl^w it - I m slifl 
watching the repeats of the 
repats or the J A hollpw log. 
flint. diamonds. sulphur, 
saltpetre ar^l coal are indelibly 
linked m the minds of the space 
adventures fans. 

Eureka* offers a prize Of C2S. 
000 to the person tenapous 
and skiifed enough to solve this 
puzi le . The game dioes I eature 
graphics but these vary con- 
siderably in quaiity from the 
quite good, througK passabte 
to downright expedient, sg. 



using mirror images lo com- 
plate the pi^ure H you never 
see any part c^ th e vast su m on 
oWer I think rt unlikety you 
wouM return to the game for its 
own sake. 

COMMENTS 

Difficulty: very drfftcull 
Graphics: on every location 
but are rather poor 
Presefitation: Isackground 
changes colour abruptly and 
exris and objects are no* 
usually given 
Input facility; good 
Response: reasonably fast 
Special features: arcade 
garr^ ai start, r«al tinted 5 
separate advefitureSt £^5, 
OOO prize 

General rating: shoukj be 
good vaiue but has seveml 
annoying features like lack of 
SAVEfaalrty. 



Atmosphere 


7 


Vocabulary 


7 


Logic 


7 


Debugging 


10 


OveratI valu9 


7 



128 CRASH Ohnmmas Special 



THE 



y. 



• High Rcrsolittion Graphics 

• Full Animation | 

• Sentence Input 

• 12 Separate adventures 

• Sound Effects 



^^ 



nil- tiiiv pftfitlMtiViif IXWCAHIA iha% a |jk^^.inl 
Irrtilr Idfid iifitil thif u i/^rd /b^POH u^^d hH Hi II 
puu vr> to cdbt i\\v rtitiiitiv iniu |M»riH-iu4l d4rkn«-^i 
uEiciUtI cili#^n!^ p!edc|iro1jtrdltfii<p In htm. 

It IS kmmii thji thmuiih iW SPELL OF DARKNESS 
2^riiiu^ hti% tr,i|i|h'd flif %r*iril of fiicli niufitfi liitu 
an^ot 12 tiOLDI^N TrMPUS RUNi'S or RUNIC 
HULItGt ASS^H hiddi-ii di^t-|i uiihitt hlf 
nti^lfiiou^ lind iriiigicul i^i^tUr 

\^ rhe lAiid dii,^% in tli<^ grl|> of l\w IWih k j 

ikiioldtion a hi^ra miJiit b^^ fi>und tc^ liKAti? M 

ind deHfd^ lli# 12 hf I iir g Li ?* !^k'ti t h u b ^ 

i«lv»ipi3 the man tin iiiid k' turning 
Dai(-d.si« la the PAtufil lorce^ of f he ■«a«iff». 

Each 9lA«% \iik% ^ RUNIC <iiairfl|illcin uround it* bA«ir 
whithyoy niiisf rt-^d and midc^r^tdfid Orilv having 
th»eward% wdl lift that part o1 I hi* ^jhtU Ta pTcitect 
t\m hour slflt«#fr Zendo^ hA« pUc^ Ihjfm in 12 ^epar^le 
nmni tn Ms c^^Ue. eodi room tlnk^ ici a dirfrreiit 
tutettof salnriy by 1 4ci4CMi« iuuti? 

l>vt»f filling an u hich t!iitTdnc« uou »el«ct Znndiis Cftsfs ^ 
ipfpJLf 14-hlch changif the kH:alionN of roam^ within \%\% ^ 
C4^l1i^ 1u rudfu^f? V'c^iJ- The mrnacLng cfpaturph and 
rhdlU^nging prubi^nr^ w^-hkh cotifroiil ycm *it *fVerv' lurri 
rrbfan ih^i ordy thi' brave ■nd the ctevef lilll f^uLi ei-d. 



nii! 



m^ 






M 



r^v 



es^ 



THE ORACLE'S CAVE 

Otir best seller available for the 

48K SPECTRUM and COMMODORE 64, 

Oracle's Cave Is a unique adventure game featuring 
continuously displayed high resolution graphics and 
text, a new cave layout and event sequence for every 
game ard a time limit on every adventure. 



■ ■ l ic t«l Dranc^v at 

lid <th>f IwdkHi r*t i i iT< 
or fUrvci f roifl 

DORCAS SOFTWARE 

3ThcOasis.Gk?n{ieldL 
L£lc€sierLE38QS 

at £7.95 fine VM) 



J 



L 



Oops. . . iVs happened agBtrtf 
There w&s a bug in the 
SIGNPOST If anstatof in the 
Octot&r i&sue, Une 60 Bhautd 
have read LET A CODE 
A— (P)^ LET A AOAND 
A32):IFA 64 THEN LET 
A 90 ■ WeW w&m not a 
Hstings maganne anyw&jff 
A topic which has appaared 
from time to lima in the 
SIGNPOST maiibag is that at 
game endmgs This month 
Robert Burgess from 
Rotherham wntm; 

One damp point in so many 
adventures is the ending, Bo4ti 
Ship of Doom and Urban 
Upsfait have on iy 
congratulation messages 
while The Huik has a piccy of 
you, the gems bf^ the chief 
eKaminer. Do any advefitures 
have e^dttng endings? 



Ihe use of graphics can limit 
the difficulty and presentation 
of the &ame. althou§h some 
may say it adds to the 
atmosphere of the game, 
ncher deSGf ipttons &nKanoe 
the game in my opinion. 

An unnamad Bimningham 
adi/^ntur^r writes: 

Text adventure are best? 
When graphics are available t 
don't use !hem OodOionatly 
to my shock I pre^ the errtar 
key by mistake and a cartoon^ 
pidufe appears which t^ais 
no reladofi^hiip to the 3D 
colour picture I Ve got in my 
head, Piclur© clues, eg maps* 
scrolls, would be okay. 



\ 



Could you please help me wrth 
Espionage istandl What does 
Ihe woman do? What do you 
do with the boat? What about 
the crevasse? And the dark 
comer? 

Maybe the native wom^n 
wants somethmg: tryfaaling 
amwdin th« dafk, fhe 
c^evas^eh to be spmmad 
and its an easy ptace to stick! 
As for the boat, pjst try 
entenng the correct input. 
Alfti iMrsh is unabfa to Hnd 
Krank^ Haltm Valhalla Ga 



,/ 



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M 



ThiS fs soma^mg t ha¥B 
l^ought about mmy times, 
^peciafty whmi wrfting 
gan^e^ theprobiam realty is 
Aar most advefitufm use up 
thB entim memory A 
sp&ctacutar mdirtg would 
require lots ot memory and SO 
reduce the tength of tf*e 
game. Mefbouma ^tolmia*& 
sotution in Hampstead was 
vary inters f^ng: a diploma m 
socml climbing is awarded on 
aompietton of the game. 
Anyway, do fat me know what 
you thmk ot present game 
endings and the type of 
endings you like to sea 
The concensus amongst most 
^tifentur&rs , or at least those 
wriWng fo SIGNPOST, is that 
te^ only ad¥ef\tures are best 
Mar* Wegg of Tnmdon 
Station, Co Durham wntes: 



This tatter point te very 
intermtfng. yetratatyis there 
any use tor the gramics 
shown. Maybe 19B5wHlbe 
Ehe yaar wher^ graphics are 
given a purpose hke showing 
maps andscfofts rather than 
tekm purefy for decoration. 
ASM Itarsh fro/71 EsseM: has 
his own ideas of what makes 
a good advantura: 



Location descnptions should 
be about 7 to 8 lines iong, 
except in mazes etc They 
ihQuld be mof e than just a 
ooteciion ot cliches (the 
narrow winding passage, the 
okl t>rass lamp etc. ) and all 
nouns m the descnption 
should t>9 recognised by the 
interpreter, in graphic 
adventures the pictures 
should be worth $eeing and 
displayed quickly as in The 
Hulk. 

f totafty agree, many graphics 
are poorly drawn and a total 
waste of memory. 
Now into some adventure 
problerr^. Artie advmturm 
are always papufar 
Christopher strand is having 
dffffcuity Gxmgutsntng the fire 
ffi Inca Curse Try IPV OFFE 
CMBOLFU.UMilGJSF. 
P. Vofi VI let from Essex 
writes: 



north from the plain tn 

Midgard, but hrst Boldir must 

be present 

Kevin Robots from Stockport 

writes: 

I am stuck in the second 
adventure of the Ket Tnlagy 
(Temple of Vrani. I cannot find 
the step I adders. Also, what is 
tfie rope that is hangir^ over 
the dm tied to? 

Welt Kevin, I'm afraid the 
steptaddars are at ffia bottom 
ot the clitfand as tor the rope, 
its not tied to anything, thats 
the problem this should gtve 
you food for thought* 
In thesamB adventure David 
Laity of Comwaihs unable to 
get any further than the four 
cotoured rooms - This is a real 
gerT7 of a problem SFBE 
TJHOQPTU GJSTU, ESPQ 
HFNT JO SPPNT PG TBNF 
DPMPVS. 



- ^. 



\ 



I 



Xi 





As Technician Ted you ctock in tc 



wofJc at the sliangest fecttxy - ^^^^^^J ^^^"^ aren e always wtiat they seemi 



4 

feM e^Eo getting in can £«■ a p<oblenir 
HH You h^H^ a number of impoaam casks 
^V lo pertorm. U/t most cteys there jiM 
dont seem ID be encxjgh hours inihe day 
CO get dU your work corrpleted 
See tf you can get through 50 screens at 
vaiying complewty, but watidi an for the 
most Lfl^iefpftji workmates you ever came 
acTOSSi Tticfe's me Fire ExunguBher tfiat 
seems lo haw gone beserk f Some very 



unfriendfy raceSn and even the bomJroom 



What's more. Technician Ted incorpofates 
a untque arwiiated iDadrig sa«n A^ 
perfieaed collision detectkin, 
Colouriyf and detatM graphta coLfpted 
wrth vTKJOth actKTi ard coribnu(»is sourxf 
iSf^ iikdy to make Techr^cian Ted 1 9BS'S 
lop game. 

Clock in wW> Ted nowi 
roftto Spectrum 4SK* £5.95 
For the Anntrwl CPC M4. £7.95 




t 



MTCm^^TIOMAL ATC 

Um fOM iH I ■■ I > faom toven m ^m^ ncai*ig 
iMii - niAig Cane jHilt - i^H^ dcMA Ion 








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% 



H£\¥>On COflMUCdnO 



Mfl MBon 1r4*^ f U^4r MAun j'Vwifcl^ Oi^ an 14 4«C 




ihr OMTHcijw irwl tfvoygh iwMnHcl 
Crvoirwinitir? 

His tfv «Jinnli#r #inr ci« iti? 0KJim 



II 



Selecced items availabte from Cencresoft Dealers 
jwtal leadng computer software retailers. 



WH SMITH 



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© 



HMIV 



THE COMPETITION 

FOR 





Your name coytd be immortalised for evermore 

if you are I ucky enougfi to be the winner of this competition. 

HEWSON CONSULTANTS, in assoctatiofi 

with CRASH, are offering as first prize a unique 

presentation certificate on parchment paper done in 

otd-style script; ptus the winning entry wiU be specially 

mounted on a block. The winner and fifty runners-up 

will win the follow-up to The Legend of Avalon which ts 

called The Dragon Tore of Atra/on and 

is due for release early next year. 



^%^ 





< 






What you have to do is send fn an 
illustrated map from Avafon detailing 
one particular level of the game. It can 
be any level you like, the choice is i 
yours. This competition is not conce- 
rned with playing ability - the judges 
will be looking for good and original 
presentation as well as accuracy of 
locations, detail of objects, weapons 
and hazards and anything else you 
can think of which will enhance your 
entry. Don't forget the sense of period 
and mystery that exists in the game - 
it's all part of the atmosphere! 
Because the winning entry will be 
specially mounted by Hewson Consu- 
ltants, it is important that your entry 
does not exceed dimensions of 60cm 
X 80cm, although it can be smaller if 
you like. CRASH will pick the overall 
winner and the fifty runners-up. 



Send your entries to: AVALON, COMPETITION, CRASH MAGAZINE, PO BOX 10, 
LUDLOW, SHROPSHIRE SYS 1 DB to arrive no later than first post January 18 1985. 






CRASH Christmas Spedat 133 



J. 



re 



Many BdventurBrs havB been 
ynaoie to open the chest m 
Tyfon's CastfBin Kentilta A 
due: the key is hiddmi in 
7yto/i's bedroom, reedth^ 
tooathn d^cripHDn cBrBfutly. 
In the same game / m sorry to 
have to tail Qiiith Jwihln« 
that VefmiBta is no cure for the 
Btack Death 

Urban Upstart; J. P^mcockis 
unabfe to cross the t>uittiin^ 
site without sinking mrdbmng 
rushed to hospttai Obvioasty 
s^itnething ts mssmg. Are you 
svitabiy dressed? XFBS 
CPPUT. 



tn ffte NQvember issue I ^sked 
If anyone knew where to find 
the Gin in OmwM Ihrough the 
OiMing Gla^ / must thank 
9iB many adventurers, too 
numeraas to mention, who 
wrote in with the solution. To 
find the Gin simply HP UP 
DVQCPBSE JJEF, HP UP 
NBHHJFT EFO, MPPL QPU. 
Darren Gray of York asks 
about Fantasia Diamond 

How do you get dcnm the 
trapdoor which is rw* tor lirom 
the Isver? How do you make 
tfie orchestra play to gtl 

fri rough the music door? 

To gei through ehe fraprfoor , 
try an ofd fiobbil solution ! IJU 
USfiQEPPS X JUI cauupo 
The fatter probfern js one 
whic^ I requested hefp on in 
tf?e November issue, i found 
that the charaotei^ would 
either drop me obfecm I hml 
given ^em or amply wander 
away, never to return again to 
the music roort^ Ian 
Slrrtmorm tells /Tie; 



>^^' 



x!- 



To open the music door in 
Far}tasfB Oiemoffd you drop 
the music book on tha floof 
because the conductor is long 
sighted. Then give the batton 
to the conductor and the vJolin 
lo the violinist Then, maWrw 
sura they keep there, say play 
music' to oonductor. 

Al af»of?ymoiis eicpforer from 
&fmir^gnam teih me r>ot to 
open the ourteir^s unW atithe 
objects have been caHected 
and even then before doing 
so /7M>fe sure that aSl the 
doors &r& cfos ed 
Also in Fantasia Diamond 
Dtv^d Marshall from 
Richmond ts unabte to get 
thrmigh ffre Brown door. As a 
bp, be rT>ore poite. LOPDL 
POEPPS, 

ITite mo^m's £12 worth of 
^ftware is won by Alw 
MmnHof &seM. 



J 



THE KET TRILOGY 



nf' 

■icp,'a 



TEMPLF 



I'MIi. 



m 



ih 



i THE COMPLETE ADVENTURE CLASSIC 



SINCLAIR 
SPECTRUM 48K 



AVAILABLE FROM 

LARGER BRANCHES OF 



John M^nztes 



AND ALL OTHER GOOD 
SOFTWARE OUTLETS 



PRESfNTATION GIH PACK 

SPiCIAL PRICE £12.95 



INCENTIVE SOFTWARE LIMITED 
54 LONDON STREET, READING RGI 4SQ 



CREDIT CARD ORDERS 
TELEPHONE (0734} 591678 

RetailefS contact; Microdealef UK, 

Tiger. Lfghteniny, Microdeal, 

La2Gf . Drake, R & R and Twang 



134 CRASH Christmas SpectaJ 



r 



9 

1 
n 







^la^ 



MOON 
LIGHTER 

Prodiicef: Softwiro Supw 

Sevan 

Mernory required: 4aK 

Retail prios: £2.99 

Language: machine code 

Aiithor: R. Mac Farquhar 



hard tirriMt you hava 
to supptemem your 
inoome you Have 
Mlwi a nioht Job aa watetunan 
m Capttal dt/B Space Tar ^ 
mjnal cargo warehouse Yocj 
have been assigned to the R 
block ( radiation contain inaied 
shipments). Why is the pay for 
Ihts four times the norrna] rate'? 
Why is the last man s gear stili 
in his locker? Why did they ask 
tor your na«t of km? Still your 
buggf should stand up to any^ 
thing. . . 

So iay the Instrudiona lo this 
new tMidget game from a wing 
or Softwaxe Projeda. The rad^ 
fltion. of course, ftas caused 
creatufSB in the warehouse to 
mutate, and you must go 
•roynd in your zappodozer' 
zippodozing theirs t^ shoving 
Ihe crated goods el Ihefn and 
squashing them before tt^ 

?etyou. 
rom this tirief dest^ption rl is 
Msy to see that what we liave 
here ie really a Pengo type 
game wfiere crates replace ice 
bbcks- Eadn levei is ^livened 
by the fact that the goods are 
cnanged. As eacR aaeen 
starts one of the crtttee will be 
itshing and a creature will 
emerge from rt artar a second 
or AMl More crEtes ffash as 
mere creatures oome to the 
aiteck^ becofT\ing n>ore intel"' 
Vgmn m they go alooQ. Crates 
mav be pushed ^ong or 
meftad (except the y eiiow oriea 
tfrfiich may be pushed only). At 
lt>e b^^e 0^ the screen is an 
wergy bar — there Is also a 
lime counter whidi affects the 
bcMHJsscore^ 



CRmOSM 

e I ddri1 think Moontighter 
was very playable because the 
6oiBt is toe sfuogisH uvhile th^ 
wsljes are quim. Also the fad 
that thare are quite a few keys 
dw$ not help very much. The 
mesi exdting bet ol the game is 
*w zippy" noise thai occ^rrs 
when aJl me lives are (osl!' 




• Another affempr at an ice 
&ge g&mB - 'Pengo\ The 
screen is laid out on quit& a 
targa grid of ice' - but j/? ffyis 
oame cfBtm of Vunlot tennis 
Ba/te. And a i$ (ftis toed of belts 
^at keep on hanging about 
tr/ing to get you.' The mutated 
b&Hs seem to be vmy eag&r to 
(ry end squast} you and move 
very test in comparisorr to 
yoiil / found on the v^y first 
screm that kiiling att five bafte 
was a nightmare -on th& sec- 
ond screen with ten baits etter 
me it $emned tmpossfbla. Col- 
our has been used very welt in 
this ^Bfne. graphics are daar 
detaiied and move welt There 
ara many funes. alt qufte fotty 
and pleming. At £2.99 (ftra 
does represent good value for 
this type oi g&rne. ' 

• The graphics in Moon- 
tighter are smooth and quite 
fast, and although they are 
aduaily qurte detailed, they 
don't ready appear to t>e so, 
which is a bit ockJ. It's a fairty 
standard Pengo game and a 
pretty hard on© — (>erhaps too 
hard Good value though for 
the price Nothing a/nazing -^ 
just reasonable as a game. * 



COMMENTS 

Control keys: 0/A up/dowti. 

O/Pteft/rightMtoflre^Nlo 

push 

JoyatJch: Kempstort 

Keytioard play: responsive. 

but meH and push are the 

wrong way round tor 

comfortable play 

Use of colour: above 

average 

Gmi^lca: only average 

Soufid: good tunes, some 

n^ spot efieds 

Skill levels: progressive 

(more jumps, leaps and 

bounds!) 

lJv«i:5 

Spacfatfeaturea: 
Gaiiferffl rating: average 
game, which represents 
reasonable value for money. 



FREDS FAN 
FACTORY 

Producer: Software Super 
Savers 

Memory required: 4IIK 
Retail price: £2,99 
Language machine code 
Author: Pat Norrie 



Another in the new Software 
Projects budget range 
-Software Super Saven, 
Freds fan Factory is an irtler- 
esting idea. It's a pity nothing 
coukf tie said about praying (he 
oame either on the inlay or on 
tie screen, because atthough 
Ihe immediate requirement is 
pretty obvious, the long term 
ob^e^es are not. 
Fred runs left and right along 
Ihe bottom of the screeo. while 
above him there are four com* 
i dors with tisei holes leading 
ufwards from one to the ofrier 
In the roof of tt^oomdors there 
are sharp gieen epikes at inte- 
. n^als, and I opposed en^ oi 
! each conidor there are large 
electric style fans, magenta 
fans on the first level, green on 
the second. Wue on Vtm third 
and yellow on the top. On 
Fred s level there are e^ght 
handtos set into the roof in lour 
colours, ea(^ handfe coressp- 
onding to one of the fans By 
dashing from one handle to the 
othrer ail activating tt. Frad can 
make the appropriate fans 
work. 

From the lowest level at the 
letl, a altoon man appears, waf^ 
ling down the corridor until he 
reaches the first upward hole. 
The balloon then rises and will 
burst ona spike unless Fred 
<^n reach the right fan and waft 
the balloon saMy on down the 



UMOfccHTiputer 
Graphic 
Ptayablltty 
Getting started 
Addictive qualities 
Value for money 
Overall 




48% 
52% 
47% 
50% 
36% 
54% 
48% 

CFtASIH Christmas Speciai 135 




aitfi^ 




DorTKtor. By Jud'ciOi^ um of 
alternating fans, it is po&sibto 
to make tha balNxins waft trom 
teft to right, picking up yellcw 
blocks set on (he noofS here 
arKi there As soon as the first 
baltoon is under w^y another 
will em€fg© frorn tlw right and 
so on The object is to cotloct 
all the yellow blocks before 
mnning out ol biloon men. 

CRITICISM 

• 'FfBd's Fm Facfoiy is a 
raltier orginaJ game to say th« 
feetlp Ih grapShics are good 
enough to match me game. 
This game is chaltenging and 
strategic in an arcade' sort of 
way I enjoyed itl 1 also lound rt 
a tittle dinicult because th#type 
of skill required is an abUlqr to 
concentrate on several tfilf» 
at once, ratter hke juggling. No 
easyiaskr 

• ^7h& object is to guide t^aH- 
oon$ through a factory using 
the tans on aitherside. At fimt 
the game ts confusing beca- 
use you af& not totd wh&{ to do 




The k&ys are awkwm^dty pte* 
ced and the game depends 
heavily on mur having a colour 
TV. • 



• 'Fred's Fan Factory woujid 
Kave been a really gocKi game 
if tt had been a bit more (Kaya* 
Ue. The idea is novel but there 
are two serious failings; the 
Tirsi isthat the level oi drfficutty 



has been tw\ sted up just that bit 
too much to make the game 
enfoyable to pLay, arxJ the sec- 
Onil {i thai it is very hard to 
posHJOft Fred propertyto acti^^ 
ate a fan ^toh. This lust 
makes te level of frustration too 
high lo continue being bottie- 
red with the game. A pity, tsec- 
aum the Ktaa is good and the 
sort of skill needed is intetest- 
irtg/ 



I COMMENTS 

Control heya: Q/P l^ft/nght, 
M for tan control 
Joystick: Kempslon 
Keyboard play: with on^ 
three Keys il vvould have Wen 
betlef to have tt>©m positioned 
closer together 
Use of colour : good 
Grapliles: quite good 
arthough pretty simple 
Sound: only the balloon 
byrstingeflecl 
Skill levels: 
Lives: 6 baJkxjn men 
screens : 
Special features: 
General rating: mixed 
feelings from reviewers 
rarvQing from waste of money 
to wove average. 



Ust of compyter 
Graphics 

Playabliity 
Getting started 
Addictive quaUties 
Value for money 51% 
Overall 44% 



58% 
48% 

43% 
25% 



30% 



RACING PREDICTIONS 



Producer; Buffer Micro 
Memory required: 48K 
Retail price; £9.95 



Ohrts The Tipst&r' Passey 
takes a look at a pmgfam to 
Ae/p yotx mot Apis otmone/y on 
(he gee-ffees. . . 

IVe pal about losi count of the 
numbef of times that people 
have asked it my computer will 
Ipick horses'. Well here's a 
program that claims to do Just 
ttiat. 

The pf ogmm makes its pre- 
dictions from SPEED FlGURi 
DATA (SFD)^ pubKshed t^ 
Spoftmg Ute. Basically, this is 
What the required inputs are: 
First enter the name of the 
course arxJ the going, le. Soft, 
Hard etc. The courses are 
graded which is significan! as 
titffefent ^^des attract 
dWerent dasMs ol horse. 
Next , the dlstetoe ki hirtongs ia 
entered After this each horse 
running i$ entered with its age, 
weight and SFD, The Sp«d 
Figure Data is inlormation 
aboLft the hgcBe's best 
peflomiance in the currenf 
season, taking into aocount the 
course, ground oo^ttions and 
distance behind the winner An 



eicample of SFD is stiown 
below: 

Worse's name 
0»th Smasti 

speed figure 
97 

aouisa (eg. Ludhwl 
LUD 

difsfance 
25f 

goir7g, eg. Good 

date (not input) 
DectO 

And before anyone says any- 
thifug - yes^ there is a race 
cour^ at Ludlow as ail serioua 
puniefSknow! 

After alt the intorrriation has 
been entered, the program 
soriB the list, it then prcxlucm a 
ftst. with numbefa ilongalde 
fm entnes repriseniing a 
hofM's chance of winning. 
Typk^ valuea woutd be 
between 1 and 300 I tried quite 
a few races, but I could only 
use the nat program because 
at the time o* reviewtng. (he 
National Hunt (jump^l season 
was not suffiden% 



aittbllahid to oEve any 
iMmmably reliable sFD. 

I petsonaiiy feel that speed 
It general has a greater 
beanng on the flat because 
ooinpared to NH Jt is more of a 
iptlrH. NH. which is over toogeir 
distances, may have any sort 
of pace until the last few 
iurtorjgs 

Enough cHgredeiona, badk to 
the raeutts On a^Bmge I found 
ttiat wtien oorrecttf 

Nerpfeted. the results were 
rather useful. Interpr elation m 
nqyired because the program 
doea not take into account 
recent positions (form) or the 
betting. A hor^ with good SFD 
may have gone off the boil , and 
if a horse gets, say. 25 points 
above the others in the field bul 
^ at 50-1 p then il s not to be 
recofTime^ded for betting on. 

Some rattver unexpected 



otiloomes and ratings lead me 
to doubt the program^ 
abtlrties, but on average over 
ayite a few races the horses in 
tne highest finishing positions 
did fmva significantly higher 
ral^e given. 

The system tim its 
limrtatioi%s, but if used sensibly 
as an aid to a decision, is 
useful. Consider the ratings as 
another factor when picking a 
hor^se. Thts program (or any 
other) \e not able to pick 
wimefs tike magic. And hs 
worth remembenrjg ihal horw 
raang ii hanjty logical. Ao^^ 
RBQino Predictions for what il 
is, with its limitations, and you 
may keep you r shirt on ! 




136 CFtASH Christmas Special 



^^^nv^ 



'i^^ 




BUG-BYTE LTH Mulberry House. Canmng Place. Liverpool LI 8JB Tek 051-709 7071 






Our fast BUG-BYTE competftion for Rapscattlon, proved to be one ofthe most popular we 
have ever run and no doubt its foltow up wilf exceed expectations as welL 
Turmoif is a classic platform game with some very novel innovations which make it 
fun to play. As its title indicates, a frenzied pace is set up as you collect oil and avoid 
•lipping over in the stuff! Oil is the central feature atong with the lively, leaping 
protagonists who pursue you with vengeance on their minds, rurmof/ makes a 
startling contrast to BUG- BYTE's other co-release, Kung-fu, where the violence is 
contained within the rigid and formalised structure of the ancient, oriental martial art. 
BothiCung-Fu and Turmoil retail at £6.95, but BUG- BYTE and CRASH offer you the 
chance to win a copy of Turmoit absolutely free in return for answering a few 
simple questions! 



<^fUs^ 



Ch^ 



"^&nas 



^P^ciaj 





/ 



^ '* '° *'" the ga^;1 °' screens. Here"" f"' 



' u^nre o1 winning 

we .*^,r ^bIsH «- 









^«*S^ envelope) W-^ P^^SH 

SHBOPSWBE SX8J ,.,^, po*t 
no law * ia 




a««re„ ^ « very novel 
5. What vehicte w " '" 

»■ Count up hoM?!""^' 

flrWino Anw r ® *^Bm too 

•"J* «"«iv«. I/Si «Wdo 
gfice. Give vouV .^* ^»'«« 

P'aceg. wo decfinai 



>J 



THE EASIEST 
WAY 



BUYING 
SPECTRUM 
SOFTWARE 
YOU WILL 
FIND! 

All you have to do is fill in the form betow and s«nd 

it off. We still offer a m££POSr ordering %tt 

but pleaie remember that it can take three to rcur 

flmi*^ ton^fer to reach ut than ordinary Fif^^t CL.-. 

u would prefer a speedier d 

we recommend you use a itamp. Orders 

received with a first ctass stannp wiH be 

det pjtchf (f wirhtn 74 hours by ftrst class post. 

ANY OF THE SOFTWARE f 

REVIEWED IN THIS ISSUE* OF 
CRASH MAGAZINE MAY BE 
I ORDERED BY MAIL USING THE 
• FORM BELOW. 



<#. 



CRASH MICRO GAHES ACTION ORDER FORM 



Tdi phone Ludlow 01M} U2&. 
Pftasfi lend me tht foil owl nf Uctei: b\ock caplulf pt«asc! 



Titk 



Producer 



h«tdinp w^d irKlmi*VAT Cmh f^Hm 
QAmt% ActJ^ mik* no thir|« for p4tLig« 

%hoM m Sop p«r h*m for pou tnd 



Hum rnaltt clwquti v 
iKHEil QKd*M pi)nMf 19 

CMSH HCRO' Fffrm 



SubT0ul:£ 
Ltts Dt&count £ 

Total Enclot«d£ 



Afnoum 



HMtn^ , , 

Sybicriber Nci 
if ^pli cable 



Addreia, 



Poatcod« 



SPECIAL DISCOUNTS 



£1 
50R 



OFF Am onoiii worth 

MORE THiiN C?0 






Sorry - only ONE vQuctier par prdief ) 



CRASH MICRO, FREE POST fno Stomp fequjred). LUDLOW, SHROPSH(RE SY8 IBR 



AbVLKliSbHtNf 





W- 



u 




UGHI Here il is. as promised, ""e otII lo wall 

VALIEY OF SLIME, a gooB* s«l"elg' '""«'. -„, 
Sl-Soori«9 creeps and undJ,ubedPOK^ 

honesty is Itie true ""e^^'xAWiina ihe truth 
*ho dare enter ''e;?,^»* ?«"';°^^n be to^ 
r'^'^^Vi^iVE? t3 tl." d s^Jlat" plains with 
^Zl Ire and C&VG Hall 01 Fame lor company. 
K enolghSt the cassette blurb and on with 

the action. . . 



#^- 




cr ^. 







"1mF<=k-^ 



pit D^ealhron o^of aB 64 2 i ?.; 
Undftfwy ridt 1 1> I 54 1 m 2u 
Jmmoill isOPowTfi 
D»rlitiflff3 TOO 






S«bre Wuf f 



FuHThrc 



.fes 
4r 000 



-^brjrV ■ ooo.oocrodd 
,, ^ cued 4 times 




-,; score 54 
W*lli, rti«n1, N«nt« 

J*''-"' !06. 7451,(97 

^^j; f« fB minutes 

*«Wfcw uunbtr. Buckletf 



LM 

jjjwijcla Joyev f io), lil«wortti. 

p»«te6.4?o 

S**)mWulfT74 280«90 

Sp«ctip«ie4e 580 
Atlc Al*c 145, 35*; -^a. 

V'"' ''"'"■'"- im all cofre-i 

'». Bl«hop«"stortlo«l, 



0»_Uoiffj, ' am wntina io *rou 
biJiiijdoho«iii9,3.589.3!00 










•IT lao 
sure 



ttDonAr*fi 

Antfrew Jorte», Souil> 



CRASH Chns«fTtas Special 141 




0«rlt*Uir 4. 760 B^m ^ hr 4Q 
out iup^llod 



Al#jf Dady (t41, Lcin^don, print 




LttpftrMl i:>f A v«Iqd CNidf Lome 

SMkm 

Simon Ckifidhft«, WHItl«y B«y, 

Tyrwi Weir 

D. T i tocithlofi iQOm 9 1 B 
Lc^ng JLimp 1 ?9 Di9C:y» 75 72, 
High Jume£39,4(»m58 11, 

4 go. SNo( Rut 39 ?2, J4ve*in 
127 4E. 1500111 258 Day 1 icoro 
299. 2 77 D9y 2 »»r« idO. 200 
Itert aitlic3p. Tufibflig* WMlt» 

D. r t DMMlilon iQOm 9 S2. 
Lomg Jymp 9.ai . St^ F^ji 28.7i, 
Hfcflih .Mnp 2.42, 40C3tTi 3Z 5ft. 
1 lOiti HynOM 12 44, PtM Vatill 
S.l», OiiGyi 75.90 JWil ffi 90 59 
Liifite of Mdr^t^Nl cofnplitac] 
Hobbit completed 
B ai ^cti I teftd compietnl 
DmiBBfvvK>y«« compMad 3 timea 

JSW comp^eled 

Mgh! Gyni%irlli«i«^ 1 1 

Male hpo f ril tidinpiitar be^wi. 

Cvwtofi GOfinpfoted 

Stop lh« EipTMS stopp^ 

3por» ^k«ro lOOm iD.oe. Loog 

Jumps 75, ilOmHufrtw 13 2B 

Pole V«uH 5 50 

C>«lg J»ck( 1 S), Sw^fidbn, WItc. 

CfiucNkt Egrg 353. 940 on L3i 

Moon A1«rt §2 . 460 on Lattflf O 

$Ai3^r« Wutf 340, 4ao at 96 

Ptiaml«4fi 720 

Lunar J«tmiifi 1 dO, 03O on L9 

FmlL^el5 

Trsra^Atn 6 cuqpi 

Rghtef Pilot 3 plarvoe shot down 

Manic lAimir 231 390 

oompteied iho f ollcwFng Lofdflof 

Mkfnighi, Urtian Upfltart. Plan«t 

orfdasth. Ve^nor's LAkr. Ani 

Altftcii. Mlnad-GNtJl, AlctmiM, 

AdmtraS Qraf SpH. Tkmi Q«ltp 

PooftaM Hafiagar rrntsTiod top dt 
aliMiicim andwon lt>e FA Cup 

don# v^ilfXMjt a iqysttcfc 
Dwrid (rm no ehMt)BM ill, 
Gwyn«dd.N. Watoa 

FuN Hirotti* San Manno i^ 
14 58. YkigoflJavia 1SI13:S2. il^ 
Ifl 10 03 Donrringlott isl 42 IB 
Rod Fof4ter. flM^yiti. 
OMnfeffnline. Fife. 

0* Tm D^Mihton 100m 9. 9i, 
Long Jymp 1 0.26. Shol Put! 
32 46. Hig*i Jump 2 45, 400m 
36 32 low 129.077 110m 
HuidtM 1 1 14^ Pdie^^iM 504. 
D4acw75 904afvel>n 133 70, 
1500m 268 (». lol^ »i . 779 
CH#cHier«d FliB Cambryge Ring 

Fightat Pilot my dad shot down 
'0 mwry ptanee ^^v« toei couni 

^f & a p4tol nyino RAF Tornados 
Paul n 31 South Wootton. Klnfa 
Lynn. Noiio*k 

Gff^f - so H^i^#39 f fits seofe on 




D. T*a OaeatNoii ^ 00m 9 32 
iDng Jtjmp 1 1 40, Sh0i Pytt 
34 00. HbBh Jump 3.36, 400m 
29 GO, 9$0fi«1hl«ve^ 1 ?5 303 I 
do not iutmit my Day 2 s^cores 
^nca aide ivvodoesni load d 
iMoykJ Hka to point out that tf 
Chariatt Pfchar managid lo Ml 
297, 792 h* would hava mww rt 
ortro ^^#4 to Hid High Jump 
More, fwfifwm, would not qualfy 
fiom twG^ 3-. 

Paul fTmth^ully) AvtloofB(iSJ, 
EallPigAondonWS 



\ 




Moon Atafi 1 56, ^60 onto eorasn 

2 

Trsnz- A m 33. cops 

Harrw Atlack 51 OiO 9l^ 5 

Chutill«OM326. TeO 

Full T^rottJfl f ft on ovmr track i 0mA 
w'|tifrt3laps >^»^ 

Je1p*c;i10 350 ^^vftV 

Ani Attach 1 reacued . 20. 930 ^™ V 
O. T s 0«catMon Pcfa Vault S 03. 
Javc^ t3l 40. 100m 9 84. Sho4 , 
PUI132 01 I 



violin O'Hailoran^t Si 

Siratford^ypon-A^on^ 

Warwtcki. 

AII«AI*c67 

Zioom 52. 730 and 139f®fi 

The Hobt^il 72 5 

Pia»t3i oooockf 

Qavin Whita(l3h FefryhSH, Co 

Ourham 

8alif a Wult 327. 535 atiOO 
AttcAtacfi7. 495with97 
Ant Attack 4S. Gl3 compl€tod 
Ttmflf^ta conplef od at Eeval S 
Lorda of Midnighl compWad 
boih ways 

Lunar Jivtman 69. 400 
Scrabbt9 compief ed lovai 4 
J«t aa! Wiriy complelad 
Traahmane, 593 
DaalhcHau m3 35$ 
Ore Attack 99 400 
Nicky Haftl«y, Ottaatt. W. Voffca 

Alk Atac oompleled tn 45 
Tli*GtiirdtafitS4„720 
FSftWrdft (29. l25Wava49 
Ofidfvnner20S 182 

Rob Holmaa. Wirki worth p 
D«rbyahfre 

Pyfamkd 139.765115 
Stop Tt>a Evpraaa compkrted 
Pi-Ballad 1.773 on LT1 
Iioonb4i0ay i4,200onL6 
Smmman 9, 780 on LB 
Cooliia4 225onL5 
ZiOOfli40.6lOonL6 
Paaat33 74aonL7 
Af€adia2 540onLt5 
Horace GoaaSkingZ?, OOO 
Monty MolaLS thiol 5 
Carl Moulaf . South Shields. 
Tytit i Waar 

O. Tm Dfcathlofi t must start e^ 
iay»ng aU iKe scoios ara ganyin«, 

I mada rrry taMiar «t our of hi« 
choir ro toa Iham for proof If voy 
don 1 beAtiPva ma ycxj mn phona 
him up 1Q0m6 92tmualbatNi 
ti3!esi (ime, u the^t a prize?) 
Long Jump 10 62 S^^ Pulf 27. 
02. H«h Jump 2 38. 4O0m ?9 SB. 
icof«20T. 913 I rOm Hyrtfes 

I I 75. Pola VfluH 501 Discus 
75 90. ^v^fcn 1 14 §7 iSOOm 
4.37«)Jinalso>r^373.287 
8wti (lrovea(14K Ctiaraftald* 
Woodbfidge Suffolk 

if fhmk t H W sf00pmg dacfir fra. jflDtj 
OTuntf l!^a ait toitasf f^araon, 

LM 







', 



*!*<<(; 



fi * 



°w;^o^ 



7^ 




Hunchback 4. 6ft8. 700 
TTiis li an hon#si scored 
Jmtm Seotthar. Chingford. 
London Ei 

Pljamanma completed in 9 and 
4 382 paces 

Simon Wally Watkinaon (t3h 
Bkahop Auck^nd, Co Durham 

Py^fnaf«ffM completed m 80 and 

S,32Bpa»3 

M. 8yrg««s (11), Sloc*»fl«ld. 

Northumberland 

Ttaahman 22, 132 
Foo«Mi Hanaaar 74 

Uofilylllola2,0SB 
Frank N.St«l#ii 46 
Stagacoach IBO. 3 06 
Hunchback SO. 000 
PyfiinaTania 60 
Slavtfi larman, Ntvnown, 
Powy^i 

Izoom 1 380 7B0 odd 
Night Gunntf Missiori 24 
CQfTibitZona55.000 
Theaa ar« all honait 3coro9^ 
K Hogg. PenUatgaar, Sv^naaa 



f ^ \ 



'^K^ 



^ I^M 



3t* 






^ 



d 




Oue to an expanded Hall q1 Slime and Robin Candy's 
raKE» Comer j'Cmof?. LM. gef on With ft RCJ - ahem, which 
foHows. this month s Playing Tips have be<^nw a b^l 
sa/Klwidiedf The giames which saem to be on most people's 
minds are Py|emarama. Avalon, Decathlon af^d, not syrprisingly 
ttie two new Ultimate games, although at ih^ time of wrrting, it 9 
still rather early days. So. hece we go.. . 



WH kick off i/irith a quiai^e 
sbout UndenwurideHAtoh just 
$mv$iS tfcm Slfnofi Q^ 
RotMrta (14) of St. Asaph, 
Owyd. NofU} Wal&s, who 
chemfutfy say$: 

To get through fh© impassable 
gargoytes, iamJ on a gem. 
wto b#gina a countdown, for 
(he length o* whic*> you gain 
hvincibiliiy- To get rid ofthe 
beaUe, colEec^ ttie sabre (level 
17), and throw d^gers at it. 

We Ve afeo had a tip or two in 
dbout Knight Lore and thm^ 
from tt}0 mysiemus sounding 
Mlcatiel Yhom ChudwalL 
iAwpoDf. aca^rd wm Orings 
we fiotfcad ki reviawmg the 
game: 

When you press the Sump 
button, sabrefnan wifl jump 
further if the button is kepi 
(town white he jumps Thi^ is 
useful for screens where he 
has to leap toog gaps Another 
uselul tip IS to place an object 
next to a hic|h wal^ and when 
you jump, press down Ehe pick 
up button at exactty the same 
time. This way you can get 
over a wall without losi ng an 
flhjert. Thtoitrtdfon wftroiily 
m you whsl to put m ne^l if It 
is daytime, and indeed, if rt is 
nighi lime amJ you are 
werewLiK . the shape will come 
towards you and Ml you. On 
oertatn screens when a 
bouncing ball has to be 
avDKted you should pass 
through while you am 
sabreman otherwise the t^ll 
wi attack. 

Spying tor a momoftf wifft 
UttjmatB, hems a gmeral ftp 
&} Cook^e fmm Stuart 
GIbaonf J3J, Pfumsta^d 
Common, London SE1S: 

To gef att ffie ingr^dimts into 
(he ftowf you have to position 
youfBelf at tha tap of tha 
icnam. When an fngradtent 
hovBfS over the bowf you 
sfH? J/d go down, tmng at the 



same &me rapaat this until 
you tiave got ait ^a 
tngr^ients. As torthenastias, 
you should try to shoot them 
down into fte bin, but if you 
canY, try to shoot them 
straight otheryi^iBa Uiey wiW go 
intothabowi. 

ffom blasting food, we ftmve 
to blasting ships, tanks and 
pi&nas Lm Jonea/rom 
Uverpoof, has this to say 
about the US Gold 
Beach-Head: 

Always go throygh the Hidden 
Pa3sage to get your points up 
ar>d then you onty need to 
shool tan planes. 



same But>jecl but wftirBfighffy 
different ftguras^ 

On the levet wtiere you must 
get the exact distance to sink 
me enemy ships, these are 
they From righto left they 
are: 60.0, 55A 68.5 and 27,5. 
The moving ship is 515. 
GetUfifl this right cuts down on 
ship 109991 for you and gets 
you to the next level much 
faster. 

Hawson Consuftants' Legend 
of Avaton is obs^tousiy making 
a big impr^sion on many 
CRASHERS, judgmg by th& 
maiL but I wondm how watt 
most ara doing, aa tfiera 
ha ven 't bem aff fftat mmy 
ottaring tips, Colin Eadtfrom 
FramtfBld, East Sussex^ 
however, has: 

The tips are what the star is 
used for In thesecorjd locatiori 
from the start, and a(so how to 
get past the gate-house level- 




TorytiiMt api mlHi ttel lit «!? owMfb tfet mm^m Piish* ^ BfAOHCU. 



When you come to Wowing 
up the ships, the aircraft 
<^rrier is about 40.0 degrees 
and the little boat on Vhe right 
hand aide near (he edge or the 
sateen is about 20.0 degrees. 
If ri says 39 degrees and 
under rt'says 1 DO too Short, it 
will be 39 5 d^rees. because 
too is 0.5 degrees. 

Qtjfte! i now know vi^y I tatted 
dismatty at trrgonomatryf 
Howe^ef, to prove the po^>il 
frtaf everycvTe has their own 
memod and rf may watt be 
wofffr trying out mofe ^an 
ona, haras a tattar from Jolin 
tiMlcaon from Sear Green, 
BeaaonstiBtd, Bucks, on tf?e 



Aftef you have got the 
useful spetls. energise, freeze, 
servant etc. . go back to tie 
first location and follow my 
instructiof^ using the qi^ellls 
when needed FirsHy. what the 
star is used lor. From the finit 
loc^tJDTi go east (the stai- 
tocation), go north, and then 
west (down a tunnel), go east 
«nd you should be in a room 
wHh two doors, very dose to 
each other, take the right hand 
door, and taite the l<ey, come 
out again and §0 m the loft 
hand door, select servant spe^i 
ajid move the servant with the 
key to the chest. The chest will 
open, give Martx^ the l<ey and 
thtn twe the object from the 



materialises in the wall, then 
move the servant towards the 
warlodf with the scroif , The 
WVkxh will go. ar>d a white 
crystal will appear. P^ck up this 
crystal ar>d put it over the star. 
The points of the star wiH 
suddenly fill in, and this means 
the star w) I now act lihe the 
energise spell, e accept that the 
power is infinite - t have never 
found it to run out aN the time I 
have been playir>g anyway. All 
you have to do is move onto 
the star and wait and watch 
your enefgy buildup. 

To get past the gate houM 
levet, 90 to the location with 
the adjacent doors, go west, 
go north, north af>d north 
a^ain, now you should be in 
the room Itiat ^s sh own on the 
back of the cassette bo«. Take 
the servant with the key, open 
ttie chest and teke the new 
object out (another key). Take 
this to the door arid, surphae^ 
surprise, the door wiH open. 
From here it is easy : just go 
through the door and youVe 
past the gate house level F 

Cotin also hm a couple of 
questions for Derak Brewstaf, 
and they ha^e been passed 
on. 

fwkoki^has not beeri 
mmtioned much racentiy, but 
it IS stiti a tasanBling and vary 
hard game to master D. 
Hobaon from Deepcar, 
Sheffield has a tip on it and 
onelorStonkers. 

I have sucMss(ul?y completed 
Android 2 . all three lones. the 
f lailarKl^ being the most 
difficult. However, t tiave 
discovered a way to overcome 
the rapid kj^ of androkts. For 
a aucxessful oxnpletion you 
must position Android 2 at the 
bottom of the ^^een 
tFlatlands) where the maze 
ran t>e more e^islly accessed. 
You wiil find that the mMIHokJs 
alt try to enter the maze, bo 
they becwrie easy targeta. To 
prove that i hawa completed 
the game, you wiH find (hat 
Android 2 s task begins again, 
yet this time the Bouncem etc 
are at least 3 lirnes faster 

Stonkars . An easier way to 
defeat the oppositiofi than the 
method suggested by S 
Hef^nessy . is to position ali 
your regimenis tooetfier, each 
on individual secftofis. The 
oppcsition will attack, they are 
low on supplies and so can be 
easily defeated. You donl 
have to occupy the emmy 
base, jusi dafoat the eoemy. 

CRASH Chrutinas Spactal 143 




^'CiS 




^(■nr 



pV Aw ■■ I 9 r Ml ] disguBtBdbythQtBcAof wafkedthrm 



iMi 




/ mu^f say to an>w?e who 
thought computer g&mes 
mak^ p^opfG unfit thQi they 
shoijtd try Daley TTKJfnpsons 
Decathlofi' for a week the 
CRASH officm iwfe hffea 
wjth thBfBttle of cfacking 
pystick!^, one of the worst 
orfendefS being Mr, Robin 
Candy (who's waitmg 
impatiently to get on with his 
POKES) who drove us all 
mad. His majn tip for playing 
tf?e game was hotpfuf -lay m 
& supply of pys ticks ^ Mark 
Bimhop tron^ Tur^bridge Weils 
in Kent, has some raffrer nfiore 
pmcticat U^mgs to say: 

You oioed OT0 sirofig ami, i 
good amount ot guts , siamina. 
and abovo all you n#ed to be 
athletic! 

Wett that doesn't sountf any 
more practfoal than tho 
Candymar). bift he gom on to 
say: 

Ttie 1 00m can be improve on 
only by gettinq a fast start. To 
do well in the long jump you 
need a lot ot speed and aim 
lor 50 d4@girees (\ find 50 
degrees better than the 45 
degrees stated in the 
instructions) Fof the discus 
only hold or>io one button, you 
will ^>eed up as much as 
when you keep preying. For 
the high |ump you have to hit 
the keytsoard very quidcly and 
then when you are about lo go 
over, hold onto the jump 
button. For the 11 Om hurdles 
you mi^t get a good pattern. I 
firxi that you only need to tet 
the runner lake two steps in 
between each hurdle. For the 
shot put and javelin you 
should aim tof 54 decrees, 
and don't go too last in the 
1500m 



. . . ar7d mak^ sure your faces 
are fied. and there s a 
handkerchief in your pocket 
and. . But wait, Mark hasnt 
rmishodf Oh nof He's written a 
poem. . . 

Here's a word of advice » 
for you today. 
Read CRASH carefully 
Before you ptayf 

Decathton is very tough 
After playing you II be ttt 
eventually you will t^ tired 
and fotro^ to qurt. 

If you tratn hard today p 
and your recofds hold. 
Youil be at tfie next Olympics, 

Collecting for us a goM! 

Thm^k you Mark, €ton t catfus, 
welt be in touch - one day. At 
least Mark sounds like he 
work$et winning, Craig Jad< 
from GrBonnre&dow, 
Swindon, sounds tike more of 
an armchair enthusiast! 

f have discovered a couple ot 
bugs. In ifte iOOnnsphnt, if 
you stay on the blocks until 
about 995 seconds and then 
rurt full pace, the time wilt 
reset its&tfand you should 
recordatfm&of' 
approximateiy 5 seconds. Tip 
2. In the high lump, if you run 
until you are dtrectiy under the 
bar and then jump and hold 
the button down you should 
go underneath the bar without 
knocking it over, th&refore 
regtstenng a clearance. But 
you can only do this after 
about 2m 5cm. 

I get the feeling tphnted 
something like this last month 
(never get r?me to read the 
mag these days!) and tm as 




sportsmanship now as i was 
Ihefi i've seen your picture 
Cratg. the one sent to the 
HOS, and you look as honest 
as tfie day iS long. How the 
camera li&s 

Itartln Leightorifrom 
Chester is another weekend 
gold digger: 

While playing Ocean's 
DBcathton I discovered this tip 
for the ciscus. When Daley's 
spaed is in the second square, 
throw the dtstxjs south east a1 
an ar>gle of 36 degrees arid 
you wtll throw i1 a dislaj>Qe ot 
168.96 m«1res J have 
achieved this four times. 

M I can say is i hope Daley 
Thompson doesn't read 
CRASH b&cause had 
probably turn white with 
horror at all this ch&ating. Do 
you read CRASH Daley? 
Turning from the blood, 
sweat md tears ot the track 
events to the mythical miste of 
the Celtic past, Miehael 
Rowe and Simon Dawson 
from Mansfiaid, Notts. , are 
hard at work on Gargoyle's Tit 
Naf4og They haven t 
completed n yet, but have this 
to say about findmg the 
somewhat necessary sword: 

Startirx} from the Altar d the 
Seat, wafk right until in the 
Central RaJn Press Enter 
three times and you will be 
faong three doors Take the 
first door on the teft and you 
will be in the Forest of Cern, 
Go back through the ctoor and 
keep walking until you (xxneto 
the cave, walk through ii and 
press Enter again three timeSp 
ttien watk left and lake the ftrst 
entrance (cross pathways) on 
the left Now walk left You will 
pa&s one door, buLdon t take 
this one because rt leads into 
the Plain d Li^. Keep walking 
left to the wcond dooc arxJ go 
through ttvere. it you hme 
follo^^ed the instriictions 
ametiSf you should be al ths 
sword- Use it wisely. 

Mfcahel and Simon say they 
witi write aga^n wfyen they 
have completed Jihe 
adventure I oould be 
pensic^ed off by then B. 
Smith from Hilton. Derby, has 
a novel way ot dealing witi 
the Sidhe: 

if you aje ftustrated at beir>g 
killed o1 by a Sidhd after a lor>g 
trek from the Altv Of the Seal 
y>en wait until the Sidhe has 



I through your poaJtion. 
select the C^Won Key, Enter 
TIR NA NOG , and your man 
will be standing where he was 
and tt>e SkJhe wtll have 
passed - also wortcs on tf>e 
cave wights?? 

/ tfirnlf you may find that 
Gargoyle Games are aware of 
Ihts fittie bug and are putting it 
right, so it nwy not always 
work for evervone 

Ouicksitvas Fred never 
realty grabbed me, I dont 
know why, but H has certainty 
lingered in tf>e Hotline tor 
some lime K J. Wilker o/ 
Sowerby Bridge, West 
Yorkshire, has a method for 
getting easy poin t$ 

If you fihool a ghost when H is 
tiatf w^y through a walL you 
tose alt yourbutlete. but the 
qhost is trapped, providiad you 
oon'l move, me ghost wiif 
then keep moving back and 
forth in the wall , giving you 
points. But beware, wrten they 
escape you must be quick to 
get away yoursetf . 

Believe me, when a ghost 
leaps out of a waH I don t hang 
around And talking of 
monsters Sitvi Jwinan /rem 
Newtown, PO¥irys (just over 
the border tiom iMdlow}, has 
ffre following advice on Frank 
N.SteinfeyP S. S. 

Use the elecfrlc shock to 
reduce the readinq on the 
meter if rt gets too nigh When 
tryir^g to deactivate the 
monster, take a few moments 
to &tudy the lay out Watch out 
for ice remember, when yoy 
go onto i^ you won! stop 
sikling. On deactivation 
screer^, if you wait for a 
creature atxwe to move out of 
the way, doni hang around 
the spring you want, or you fl 
end up With a cannon ball 
brtween the eyes. Even wrth 
that Info I can only reach level 
9. 

tHhedthe game, very 
ptaiyabte and quite difftcuft^ 
FiTTishing games that have 
ends (fe not shoot em ups 
that fust go on and on) has 
become alt fihe rage, 
espeaaily when it comes to 
getting your name into pnnt as 
hefng the tirst to do so. We get 
a tot of letters claiming to be 
the first at something DavM 
Dixon from Gaieshead. Tyna 
& Wear says: 

i am writing to tettyou tftaf / 




144 CRASH Christmas Special 



*•■•■■ 



IhEhiiiiiii'"' 'niiiiie: 



compile PyfrnnarsmB. It w» 
dofk&at iO:uipni cNi 
Wednesday 14th November, 
having bought the game on(y 
tie Saturday before. 

WoffthMt Imm vmy fmt 
compt^km tme. David, but t 
mgret to say iha? you are /ar 
from 6«/i?g (fie firsl, smcB we 
had }GtTBt$ in wait betotB you 
evon bought the game from 
p^opiG whohadctmrty 
vomptet&d il Our own 
mapping' dept had rt finished 
Btout tfve weeks bBfora your 
date MfkroGen clB&rty 
^might #ie B^^Braga dare of 
camfetion tor most wouid be 
Efound thaSthof Novemp&r! 
liirfc Gffff tthi at SouthsaM, 
Harris, says ha hasn't saen 
anypfaying bps for 
Bug- Bytes Ftapscalliorv so 
hBs written to put ffie mattm 
straight. 

Ttw VWdeme^ is the fifBt 
fttpe. You od^ 10 touch g 
pixie to see the megic key and 
(he magic shield the shield 
pf oteds you from the sleeping 
gyard There is nearly always 
a crystal or a p^xie naarty . If 
vou entef the room anyone for 
iBfYiis beware, because it you 
ar% a bird you will get stuck in 
tm net, and as sc«3n as you 
ifftef largei practice' head for 
the hoor as soon as you can of 
vDij *ill be shot. In the magtc 
fabyrinth yog must gel the 
magic eye Whan you have 
this the three wizards become 
visible- You can only get the 
wizards when they are resting. 
Whei^ you have done this you 
must travel to Concorde's 
fiesl'. Tfavel frotn the top of 
the room arnj you vvill be in 
Insecticide spraying. Travel 



rlgiht arxi you wil see some 
axils, one of them \s the way to 
the castle, but it changes, so 
by them all. 

The ca^e is the hardest 
slage of them aJL H you stay in 
a room for too I ofYg 
Rapscallion the Rogue will 
come and get you At this 
stage you are required to 
ooiect containers, which need 
touching Whm they are full 
size they can be touched. 
When \foy fwvo botti of Ittem 
you wi [l be atjie to P94 the 
magic wand, and when you 
have this wait for Rapscallion, 
who will have shrunk, to come 
md touch you At last, you 
hff^ th»e title deeds to the 
castle. I completed the gamie 
in an hour. 

I said in my Loak BackpiacB 
that i thought Zombie Zombie 
was a M dlsappOJnffDg as a 
foltow up to Ant Attack, but 
Qareth Cavacivtl from 
Bt&ckwood, Gwmt, 
^agrees wtth ma: 

Anyone ludcy er>ough to have 
a copy of Zombie Zombro by 
Quicksilva, might be having 
problems in killing zombies 
To kill them yoLi must first 
creep up on them from behind 
making sure thai tf^ey don't 
see you . When yoiJ touc^ 
tt^em on their back, they don1 
kill you bat follow you. You 
then lead 9mm up onto a wall 
of at teast 3 Nocks in height 
Music wi II thsf^ play and you 
jump off the wall. The z^Bbie 
will follow and die A zombie, if 
tt can t cany straight on. wiH 
turn left. I think Zombie 
Zombie It a grwt garrte and 
m&s worth more that the 
o^imil score of SO. Keep up 
fie good work! 



Will th«r# we go. It's tlrra to nip down to the market hall and 
get a pheasant plucked, or whatevef tfiey do, ready for the 
usual obscene (or do I mean obese) rights of Christmas 
dinner. Time to Hand yoy over the the lender merciet of the 
Kijig Street Kact^er (as Scotland Yard know him), Robin 
Candy. Sorry If I didn't print anyone's letters, there are so 
many Jt is hard, but without the volume there wouldn't be 
the ideas, so please keep writing in . especially with tips on 
some of the older or more obscure games that rarely gel a 
mention. Wrtte to ULOYD M ANGR Aft, PLAYING TIPS, 
CflASH MAQAZINEp PQ BOX 10, LUDLOW, SHROPSHIRE 
SYB 1 0B 1 know sometimes you would like a quicker ar>d 
RMjre direct reply to some problems, but It Jyst Ian t 
possible, otherwise I'd never get any arUelet or reviews 
donel 



SPECIAL NEXT MONTH! Watch these paQ«s lor our huge 
map of The Edge game PSYTRAXX. Yes rolks (LM hype 
dept. ). all those thousands o1 rooms, laid out for you ■ 
DON T MtSS OUT? 



Robin Candy's 




And now - Here own^ flobln I . 



POKES 



CORNER 



We have been promising for a few issues a 
bumper bundle of deceitfuiness, so over the 
past few weeks we empioyed the expert safe 
breaker ROBIN CANDY to compile this load 
POKES. (The compiler used was the Psstek 
Hi'Valley fyfkXVth 



Over the Mcerrt (and not so recent) months, ma^ 
best dieals have been sending in tt^eir routines ar>d methods of 
cheating on an assortment of gamM. Here I am. to tell you how to 
get infinite lives on many games, so you - the artwte wifcr - 
might some day have the satisfaction of seeing yoiir name In me 
all-creeping CRASH HALL OF SLIME; (i thfnk you re missing the 
point here, Rotm - fftey /e not supposed fo oheaf tor the Half of 
Slime, I know you do when you sand yoursooras into PCG - UUV 
so you can once again hold your bead up high when your best 
trfend tel9s you about how he notched up his twe?hh billion on 
Sabre Wutf: ar>d you will be able again to oompete against your 
two year-otd littte sffiter withmJl being beat by too mui^ or\ U/naf 
Jatnrnn. . . 
But still, there's no point cheating if you don't know how to. 



What's the p«nt to a POKE if 
you don'l know where to put it 
in the i^nst place. Ol oourse 
most hardened CRASHERS 
know exactly wh«f» to shove a 
POKE, but feir the few thai 
don t l0t s kidc olf wifi how to 
put one in. 

RrsI you musj get ttie Spec- 
trum into iXTENDED MODE. 
This is done by pressing CAPS 
SHIFT and SYMBOL 
SHIFT log^her, then press 



CAPS SHIFT and T together 
and MERGE should appear on 
the saeen Once you have got 
MERGE on screen, press 
SYMBOL SHIFT and 
Plogether twice, so that you 
have MERGE "" . Press 
ENTER and start the tape. 
Whan the screen oom^ bade 
wfh the OK report aHer a few 
seconds, slop the tape Now 
lis! the pfogram (sometimes 
you may have to efiange the 



CHASH Christmas Speciat 145 



PAPER Of INK cx>lour. aiMl this 
is detailed in ttve Spectrum 
manual) 

No^ you imMt adit me llria ifi 
frie pfoflram whkii has rhe [as! 
PRINT U5R or RANDOMISE 
USfl staiefT>0r»t in it (Editing ks 
also deified m lh@ Spectrum 
manual) Ovce you have done 
this you musi insert the POKE 
^ before that lasl PRINT 
USR or RANDOMISE USR 
Staiefnent, making sure that 
thefe IS a ! on either side of the 
POKE figures {: is got by pres- 
sing SYMBOL SHIFT and 
Zlogether) Once this is done 
pra^ ENTER arrf if all ha& 
gone corredty the line you are 
editir^ will jump tmdk up into 
me program. Nmi press R key. 
and restart th© tap© from 
lirfiere you stopped it The 
program should now load nor- 
matly. (Not©: if you fail to stop 
the tape quicUy when the OK 
npQtt pops up, rewirid it 
nbhtfy before the seoorKl 
loed). 

Now onto Jet Set Vfitly, the 
proQfam which brought 
pokemania to a h^h art, 
(^^/Ti-c Miner having spawned 
H) Alas, the nmv hyper loads 
may bnngastoptoafltfiat. . . 

Stephen Combordelle ol 
Stockport sent U^ese m: 

POKE 351 1% Gets fkl of atl 
th© monsters 

POKE 36350, Q Makes WiFly 
jump unrfl he hits something 
POKE 3B4T7^ 1 L^ts Willy fflM 
as far ash© wants 
PO*tE 34275, %& So you dont 
have to enteflfia 
WRITETYPER codeiOQain 
a<^c@ss to any sheet 
POKE 59900 , 255 Disables 
the Attjc bug. 

Stephen wasn t the only per^ 
won to s©<xJ in these POKEs, 
teit tm ^mmpm tucky lo have 
hit letter puled out of ^b muK 
tftude. Well, onto some more 
,iSlV POKES DontworTvilyou 
weren't (or aren t) creditM - 
we received literaity hundreds 
and hyndrecte of letters on the 
subted. so it reaJly is the luck erf 
the draw, we didn't pay any 
heed to the death ih rea ts or the 
brflMe (SpBBk for youf^ett 

POKE 41 983. 25e X Where 
X Is the numdef of ob|ects to 
be cdleaed This was sent in 
by Stephen Block o< Statfof d. 



POKE 37874,0 Items are 
cottected as soon as you enter 
a room 

POKE 35899. The famous 
trriinite Jives! 

POKE34545.0 Makes tt>e 
Bmmm Trm a bit easier 
POKE 4l9«3p 255 You have 
only to collect the tap to see 
ttie finale off ed: 



POKE 36635, 239 You can 
now use Intedace 2 
POKE 38240,0 Obliterates 
ur^ediefiidedMeittia 
The abov^ were sent in by 
Uark Smith from Norfolk 

Well ttmt wraps it up for JSW. I 
know there are hundreds 
more, txit miost of them are a 
tHt pointless to say the least 
Thanks to ait who contnbuted 
them, but please don t send in 
any mo<6, I'm beginning to 
think that the only reason JSW 
stayed popular for so tang is 
because people like le^nng 
the program apart to se^ how 
Ihey cem efter Ft Oh we4l^ one 
more item then. This is tor 
people vrfio are having trouble 
putting POKES in. \t has been 
sent in by many readers, and tt 
does the job for you - only for 
JSI^ though. 



start off with ttie much sought 
atidr Sadre Wutt monster kiHer 
POKE whtah Gomes in two 
forms The first obliterates the 
maienahsing monsters and the 
secofd which just about oblit- 
erates everything but dtoes 
have one side effect m that It 
makes an annoying sound and 
if you pr^s fire everything 
reappears. . . 

POKE 39702. 30 Gels rid of 
the matenaFising monsters 
POKE 39393. Which gets 
rid of everything 

Both these POKEs were sent 
in by Chris Colesell of Staf- 
fwd. To insert tiies© *s rather 
difficult because the tine you 
Imve to edit is Um which 




coi».*« 



eoa Ti 



146 CRASH Ctiristmas Special 



10 REM JSW LOADER 
20 (NK7:PAPER1: 
BORDER tr CLEAR 32757 
30 PRINT JET SET WILLY 

IS LOADING 

40 LOAD CODE 

100 REM frnserfPOKfe after 

herej 

1000 RANDOMISE USR 

33792 

Type this program in. but bet- 
ween lines t00 and WQQ 
insflii the POKES that you wish 
to use^ When von have 
finished inserting tne POKEs 
{rememtier to use Hn© num- 
tjers) nin th© program and start 
ttie tape and now your new 
poked version of JS W wi J i load 

Now some POKEs for tfie 
Ultimate rang© of games- To 



cannot be edited in the normal 
way. This can t>© overoome by 
a simple POKE (which I can t 
find at the mo M II ojme back to 
it later on) or by a new loader ' 
which can be wfitlen incor- 
porating the POKE like SOi 

10 LOAD " SCREENS 
20 LOAD - CODE: LOAD 
CODE: LOAD CODE^ 
LOAD CODE: 
30 POKE (n^haif^^Br} 
40 PRINT USR 23424 

iiYter this and run H, start the 
tape and the program will toad 
(except the first part). 

Now follows a tip for Lunar 
JpCmsf) from Piul Hutch- 
bfiof! who deoded to go it 
aJone' aftef becoming dis- 
enchanted with trying Chns 
Suthefiai>d s POKE (lilie a lot 
o* people!! With his tnj«»y 



DEVPAC In one hand and a 
cup of tea in the other he 
started on his qM est for immor- 
talf ty on Lunar Jefman and he 
found rt - so here it is, the 
definitive POKE for Uttimate's 

10 CLEAR 24575: PAPER : 
INK D: BORDER OiCLS 
20 FOR L 1 TO 51 PRINT 
ATe.0::LOAD CODE: 
NEXTL 

30 POKE 23439, 20 1 ■ POKE 
36d65p : RANDOMISE USR 
32760 

Run that pogram and start the 
Ivpt tfid the program should 
load as fHKmaJ Spurred on try 
his sucoera with Lunar Jet- 
man ^ Paul deddod to turn his 
talents to AUc 4ikie, Edtt th© 
hMder (as shown olsewhere} 
and insert iHe foUcming 
POKEs: 

POKE 36519, Foe infinite 

lives 

POKE 35353,0 

POKE 353^2, 

POKE 36571,0 

POKE 39092, C Thm© four 

Slop all energy drains 

POKE 37229, 175 

POK E 37280 , 1 75 Th^e two 

make th© doors deckJedty 

fWVOUS 

And tinalty from Paul Hutc*T- 
hson com© some PQKB^ for 
Frank N Stein, which is a bit 
naughfy of him oonsidenng he 
works for P. S, S These 
POKES shoukj be hrsefled in 
the loader just before the 
RANDOMISE USR slatefnent 

POKEM124,0 Thisgrves 
infintte lives on the version of 
frank N Stein which has a 
title screen and bonus lives. 
POKE 28277,0: POKE 
2S27B, Gives infimia lives 
on the or>ginal version without 
the title screen. 

All these POKES am by Pauf 
Htitehln&on of Lof^don. who 
has just had his garne Xa^iour 
released try P S S . and he 
goes on to say that tfie sequ^ 
will be even better. 

For infinite lives on Trmti- 
Am. type in this little proggy. 
RUN it. start the tape and the 
game will load &$^ raormai but 
wrth infinite lives^ 

ID CLEAR 24319: LOAD 
^^ SCREENS: LOAD 
* CODEr POKE 25446,0: 

LOAD CODE: LOAD 
■^ CODE: LOAD CODE: 

PRINT USR 23424 

For infinite lives on Jetp&c, 
type in th© above program but 
aftenng the CLEAR to CLEAR 

24575 and the PRINT USR to 

24576 then delet© the pfevious 
POKE and add the following 
POKES in Its place: 



POKE2S015,63 
POKE 25016, 5 
POKE 25017.0 
POKE 250 IS, 

Fcx^infinile lives on Cookie type 
in line 10 of the Tran^-Am 
fDutine yet again, but type in 
m«M POKES Instead of the 
ofleiml POKE: 

PDKE2&6»5,ft2 
POKE 28696, 5 
POKE 28697,0 
POKE 28898,0 

The above POKEs were sent 
m by Richard Hyde and Ste- 
ven Walters ol By<^fi. 



AfmdiB POKE 25776, 
IftlMte lives sent m by 
RlDhard Hyde and Steven 
Walters 

Hunchback POKE 26688, 

Infinrte lives, sent in by Simon 
Trigg ot Herts 

The mra bunch of POKES a/e 
frofTi Paul Rowland and lAarfc 
Young ol W Sussex. They 
wrote an extremety short letter 
but With the most PS's Ive ever 

DBfenda POKE 37531,0 Infi- 
nite lives, and for the same 
game 




Many peopi have wMm m 
asking me how I got that unbe- 
lievable score on Ocean's 
Moon A/e/T. Well the sad truth 
IS -I cheated using a axiple of 
POKEs thai nmm ptaying 
Mooa Alert loial^ pdifitless 
(the scofd was achieved while I 
was having a bath, I just (eft the 
Spectrum on to see how many 
thousands rt ooukJ scofe while S 
wu submerged)™ (Bet you for- 
got to wash b^ind your ears 

POKE 39754, Gives you 

infiniie lives 

POKE 42654, 195 And vou 
, |ust can't die. nothing kifis you 
I (Grmt! I gt/e5S that should get 
I siBie-ot-th&art award for 
! Sif^eerm/nimaAsm-UUI), 

Both of these POKES are from 
a reader in Baissels, I can read 
tils address but not his name. 
sofi> whoever you are, 

The rtft of the POKEs are in 
no pftrticutar order t^eoause 
Ihey are just odd POKEs which 
have drifiect in out of the mul- 
titude of playing tip letters 
which of LM (notice how his 
name always comes up in bold 
face? tt's a way o4 com- 
pensating for his fack or pay) 
has handed over 



Pyjram/d POKE 44685,0 
Limitle^ eoergy (forgot 
tmttioti name and address 



POKE 34163, Infinite smarl 

borttte 

Kosmic Kwfga POKE 36212. 

Infinrte Lives 

The followir^ ones when put 

together in Zip Zaps loader 

give you an infinite amount of 



energy 

POKE! 

POKE 

POKE 

POKE 

POKE 

POKE 

POKE 



53751,0 
S3752.fl 
53753.0 
54l42p0 
54143.0 
54144.0 
54141.0 



This n^xt routine was sent in by 
Caspian Richardsof Wig^ 
Eowrsshire and rt gives infinite 
lives and infinite time on TLL. 
First you must MERGE the 
loader then add lines M. 50 
arKi 3000. fun the program 
tiiei^ start the tape as normal 

20 DATA 55p 62^ 255,221, 

33,0,64, 17. 1S6.1S1, 20 S, 

66,5.62,0.50,190.136,50, 

15tl33, 201 

50 FOR n 65423 TO 65444 

3000 RANDOMISE USR 

66423 

Caspian also sent in the POKE 
I was looking tor earlief that 
brings program lines down 
from so that you can edit 
them -POKE 23756, 1 

S. Roberta of t^ortdk sent in 
the following POKEs for more 
lives on Ah Ofddums and Wild 
West HafOp they are: 



Robin Candy's 



POKES 



CORNER 



POKE 24942. n Where n is the 
number ol lives, up to a max- 
imum of 250tV5 Didrfums 
POKE 23821 , n Where n is the 
number of lives, in Wfid West 
Hofo i1 s upto a maximym of 22 

Hece's three more POKEs 
from faf away Brussels. All 
tiree are for infinite lives on 
Tut^rjkhamiin, Freez Bees 
and Pi Baited respectively: 

POKE 27783.0 
POKE 34610,0 
POKE 44416, 5 

Well that'saboiit all the POKEs 
we tmve at tfie moment 
(ThBfBS probatly loads more, 
bat he tikes to horde them so 
no one etee can be^f hfs hh 
scores when fl com^s lo send- 
mg them into PCG -LM} btrt 
keep em coming and make 
sure they work before vou 
send them in because they 
only waste preoous space 
ajki people'^ time. Send in any 



tips, POKEs or micfodfive 
convemions Isecause they ar^ 
useful, and thanks to all those 
who sent POKEs in and 
HAPPY HACKING 



(ts that it? Hbs he gone? Good 
- okBy i can get rid of Iftese 
brackets again ~ i) - Phew, 
that's bmer. Anyway, enough 
of ^es e juvenile maundenngs . 
Thmk you Robm, don l cat/ as, 
we'tt call you. I si/pp<^e / 
shouldn't be too mean, after 
all, if is the season ot good wH 
and aft that, but t find myseff 
jdm ben^een gratftude thm th e 
management have given me a 
handy POKE h^per who I can 
kick when thmgs aren't going 
well, and bttterne^s that he 
gets pmd (HJt of my satafy. 
ute's never fair! AryywBv, 
Robm Cendys POKE 
CORNER tooks s e! to be a sort 
of regular, so, do as he sam, 
and keep them coming tn Se# 
yp£/nexf/e&f -Lli. 



HEARING IS BELIEVING 

Tete Soufid 

SPECTRUM BEEP BOOSTER 



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DEFT: SU9 33 33 LAMGLET CLOSE, REDDITCH, WORCS, 
fiSfl OCT. TELEPHOME: (0537) 21429 (31439 AnswerphonaX 



41 



CRASH QifJstmasSpecJaJ 147 



Ttiere is a staggering number of monthly and weeky 
magazines in existence, in the computer field 
alone, W. H. Smith shops may well have to find 
shelf space for as many as 30 titles. Eacti tftle has 
Its own style and its own 1ook\ Readers may well 
be forgiven for thinking that a magazine just 
'happens' every month, but behind the style and the 
look a lot of effort goes into it throughout many 
stages. This article doesn't set out to show how 
every magazine arrives at your newsagent every 
month p weVe just looking at CRASH, , . 



CRASH m perhaps a ItttJe 
unusual compared with most 
Qttier compuiiH' magfazines. 
For a start off rt is mA E>foduced 
by one ot the major publish ir^ 
houses which include EMAP 
Kkxnptrt©r & Video GamM, 
Snciair User), Argus 
Specialist Pubbcations (Home 
Computif>g Weekty. Games 
Oofnpuling), VNU Business 
Pufettoations (P©fS0€xa! Com- 
puler Weekly, -World and 
Games) and the giant IPC (Btg 
K. and through its Business 
Press section. Your Com- 
puter). Ail of these 
organisations have their 
headquarters in or around 
London. CfiASH is published 
by Newsfiekt Limited, based in 
Tt>e smalt Shropshire tow^i ot 
Ludlow - aboul as far away 
from computens as yoy could 
imagine. Bui ihat s one o^ the 
vranders ot the home computer 
- ttieyVa evefy where ^ 

It was one ot the maior 
points in the concept o* 
CRASH when it started a little 
ovef a year ago. that reader 
inpui would be an important 
aspect of the magazine, and in 
the l^ht of thai we have always 
tried to be straightforward with 
any comments on the oontants 
or the putriication I doubt, for 
instance, that any other title in 
®£istence has had sudi a 
^Toog two-way dialogue with 
rts readers over magazine 
aspects like spellirtg or 
typesetting errofs, as we have 
had over this year! Coit^nuinip 
that poticy d openess. we felt rt 
would be interesting to give 
readers a brief insight into now 
the magazine is actually pro- 
du<^d/ starting from the 
moment one issu e tms gone to 
bed/ 

Going to bed' migiti be a 
good place to start - it's what 
most CRASH staff feel like 
doing when an is&ue ^s 
lanishedl But the phrase goes 
ba<:M lo the earliest days of 
phnting, when pa^es where 
m pressed wtih the^f contents 
on huge machines where the 
text was el chad onto bk>cks of 
copper laid on a solid bed' and 
the paper was pressed onto 
tfie inked plates by a heavy 
follec Things have dia^^ged 
cpjlte a b«l, as v^ shati see. . . 




their own 

Broadly theoe 

Production^ 

Adminhstratton 

Finance falls 



THE FUNCTIONS 

AS in most things, there are 
departments to CRASH whteh 
eadi have 
responsiWirties 
are Editorial 
Ajtfvertisement, 
and Finance, 
outside the scope of this 
artide. Ecfitonal organises the 
writlen matenal ProducJion 
designs and lays out the 
issues , Adverttsemefit secure 
advertisers and their ads. and 
Administration (natural^) 

largety cocks up evefyone 
etee'swork! 

Editorial. Produclion and 
Advertisement are very often 
kept quite separate in most 
organisations . but nol so wih 
CfiASH. Each issue is planned 
at the lime of working on it, and 
it is important to keep all 
departments dcmely in touch 
with each other, often com- 
plemerrting each others' 
efforts, tt is also worth bearing 
in mind that although this 
article rriay make it appear that 
things happen in dear -cut 
itages, usually all the pro- 
cesses are going on at onos - 
It s chaos at times, or, as the 
favourite phrase would have it, 
Hs a nightmare!' 



PLANNING 

THE Urn thing to be decided te 
of how many pages will the 
issue consist"? This is 
dependent on several factors 
ike. how many advertisers are 




^m £99^ 



llfflHltlN 



l itofB pi i cft %tmw^ \H t ^ii iof i diifc PrEti S l nt ftp j ^cf 



.J. tnd Ktvin Foitif Ef^^^l^l *<it^J 



how many games are 
expected to be reviewed, how 
many oompetrtpons will there 
be. and so on. Advertising is a 
very important factor, because 
rt governs the number of pages 
it IS economic^ to pnnl In the 
60s paper was onty a fracticn 
o* the total production cost of a 
nr^agazine A$ a result it was 
news stand sales that made 



the publisher his operating 
coBiB ar>d some of hts profit 
Today, paper oists make up 
almost two-thirds of the pro- 
duction cost - as a resuit news 
stand sales only account for a 
part of the operating costs and 
ad revenue has to make up the 
r^ and hopefully end up with 
aomepraflt 
Once these items have been 



148 CRASH Chrtslmas Special 



^ 



dartfted and the pages 
ddckkd upon, the p^nnlng 
n^ity starts. The function c^ 
tha Editor (Rogw Kean) is to 
QvoTBaa the gaoefaJ scope ol 
Ito wrfttan rriateriai. He also 
wrttM cfurtB a chunk of it, 
tieiping with reviews, articles 
and QOiTipetJtion^ Kevin 
f oeldr is the Assistant Editgr. 
Ha is respoTOible tor (f>corfiiiig 
r>ews Items, organisinQ oom- 
petiiioAs wW^ sdliware hcxi^es 
and making sure the details 
are aJI written up ready io€ 
typesettjf>g. Rog^ liases virith 
out&ide contributors like Derek 
Brewster and An^us Ryali. 
ensuring that the«r material 
•frtv66 on time^ 

Each momrng thefe is a pro- 
dudion fneetirig. This some- 
tbnea only lasts for a few 
mhTH/tes and invotves both the 
edilorial arxl the production 
people. It helps to keep 
everyone infoimed as to wfial 
b going on. During the first 
wmk of an iss4je at mese daily 
podudion meetings the isflue 
ts ptenned out. By the ©frf of 
the week the Tidk Off sheet can 
be drawn up - we'll look at that 
under the PTOdMCtion heading 
later. 




1 



EDITORIAL 

ONE of Ihe most innportant 
upecia of CRASH editorial is 
the games reviews. The pro^ 
can of reviewing games goes 
on an the whiie 18 year-old 
Matthew Utfir>de<l is the in- 
houat revjewef and as such 
ofoanlses the other revlewecs . 
This entails togging oasaettas 
as they arrtw VDm software 
fioyMa and Wting that the 




Will] in« fiuliiife lEVitiicrl rpttorl] ki. HUtlhin ind Hfigtf c^llalc 9tH ii^i« up Hii 
trvlew SptCtitim ind monilof lit tHHk bf jourl mm [he Apncoi £empiil#r mT? whkh ill 
rht fnii4rtil if typ^a oM&f^D p ici lYPiitmitf 




review te^im get them in good 
time to be ab& lo report t>ack. 
CRASH has six feguriar 
reviewers ranging in age ironn 
14 to 30 who tadde the arcade 
gamee. They oome in from day 
m <taf, rallect g^fies and 
review report forrr^, returning 
everything whan they have 
fini^ied. It to a policy that at 
IbAM three of them get to see 

When the reviews are bekig 
written up for typesetting, the 
introductory pieces are usually 
written by either Roger Kean or 
Lk^ Mangram aided by 
Matthew, who plays the game 
as the review IS being written to 
dout>te chetik on me stated 
facts given by the various 
rwiewuiQ.. 

Meam^ife, Kevfn checks 
press rel^eas^ lor news 



rr^tenal and oaf 1^ back anyone 
if he wants more detaH He ^so 
pre^wxts incomina letters to 
erasure that Derw Brewster 
receives his Advenhjfe Trail 
letters and Lloyd Mangram 
gete his Forum mail. The pre- 
sorting is a big job as nrnny 
l^ers contain playing tips and 
N-^cores as well as general 
Forumjnformatkxi. 

Gradually, during the three 
weeks of an issue, all the 
material oome^ together and is 
typed tnto an Apricot computer 
using a ¥#ord pfocassor prog- 
ram called Syperwrftef The 
resulting ftoppy discs are sent 
to Lorxlon where the 
typesetters do tti^ rest 



TYPESEHING 

IN the early days of masi 
prifittr>g typasetting meant 
eicacfly what it said. From a 
written manuscf ipi a typesetter 
acfuaMy cast the printing jetters 
in metal (usually lead), or he 
already had stadcs Of p^e-cast 



Sodino teffiM^lli^f II qy Itf I Ufit 




CRASH ChnstniasS|>Qctal 149 



n^ 




letters, rather like the ones you 
get in a John Sull printing ktt. 
These were airwvged m trws 
aft a make-up' from whidi tne 
page would ev^ifuaRy be 
pnnled In fact he actuafty srt 
the type Stmilartv any 
pictures, photograpnic or 
(feMm. would tm engraved 
onto plates and set flush in with 
the type TcxJay it's all done 
¥vtth cofTiputers, txil the old 
words remaiii. A typefaw 
(oyrs is called Helyetka) is 
called a fort? {Of fount, from the 
woFd metal found ry). Adding a 
ivgar space between lines of 
typt ^ caned adding lead', 
because that's wtiat you dtd, 
add Nank iaad. 

Now the inf cxmation is typed 
imo a computer and a floppy 
cftsc is slotted into a typesetlac 
photo unit , wh ich coritains 
numerous di^fferenl type faces, 
and the result is photographed 
onto a roll of bromide paper, 
wrfiich is proo^sed |ust like an 
ordinary photograph. But the 
lypentter needs to know 
certain vital Ihfngs from the 
edrtorial department. These 
include factors like how wide 
wril the printed column be (the 
oolymn you are hooking at now 
to a quarter cobmn ~ four to the 
page), will rt be lustilied (this 
cotum is jtistffied - those in the 
Fonjm for example are 
unjustified, as they are ragged 
on the right), wt%Bt point Size 
will the type t^ in (this is 3 

R^int), what type face (this is 
elvetioa Roman, Helvetica 
Bold looks like thIsAKlltelk: 
lake ihis The sub-headh^gs on 
th«^ page*, for instance are 
in 12 point Helvetica boJd con- 
dtonsad which looks like thii). 
AH this information is induded 
wttti the floppy disc and the 
lypwettec rrachine does it 
automatically.^ The resulting 
bromides are returned to 
CRASH for the production 
departmaftl. tt is an aarty 
escample ot where edrtona! and 
production must work 

S)e«her. since W& K) uu 
itoriaE gettir^g a pieca typeset 
across a quarter column if the 
production plan calls for a third 
oolum or half page. 



SCREEN PHOTOGfWHY 

AS the reviews are t^ing 
iMlllan up. the games must 
also be photogmphed. This is 
done by Productfon Oeaigner 
David Western. It's quite a 



sJmple procass. but time con- 
suming, and involves the use 
of the ®x client Hlcrovttec 
Cub MonltonAfith a camera 
pointed ai the screen at a set 
distarKa. Here. Matthew 
usually dividee iw time 
between review writing ard 
helping wtth the phonography, 
Since It requtres someone to 
play the ^n^e to a cenain 
point, while Davkl pholo- 

traphs The Cambridge 
lomo has also proved 
invaluable in getting good 
freeze tramps. 

The colour screens are the 
first to be taken because the 
oDiour worl^ in CRASH lakes 
the longest to prepare for 
pnnting and must t^e read/ at 
least a week before the rest It 
^ equally important, therefore, 
that the editorial skte gets 
those reviews and artides 
written first 

Once the photographs have 
been taken, processed and 
ooniact printed (all done in- 
house). the captions can be 
written for them The black and 
wtifte scfoen pictures are then 
enlarged ready tor layout 



PRODUCTION 

THE heart of CRASH l« In the 
writing and in the (ayout, or 
design, of the magazine It is a 
lonq and compiicated 
business. As we have seen, it 
starts with the daily prcduction 
meetincs. from which emerges 
a plan for the issue, the pian ts 
snowi as a *Tick Off' sheet- 
beateaHy a Hsi of all the pages 
whc^ snows whece the colour 
pages fall, and what goes ort 
each page, ft s called a Ttdt 
Off sheef, because when a 
page is totally finished reacty 
tor pnntir>9. it gets ticked oft 
and can b^ lorgotten - well 
alm<ffit forgottenT 

Juggling with the ticfc off 
sheet rs a work of art. First of all 
Ihe advertisers who have 
booked space have to be 
stotled in, bearing in mind their 
requirements. They all want to 
be on right hand pages at the 
front of the magazine, for 
instance f CRASH us printed in 
several sections of pages 
compnsing of 32 pages p^ 
sedion. in thc^e 32 pages 
there will be 1 6 which can be in 
tul colour, and they fall in vefy 
specific places, which makm 
me juggling act even harder. 
It's all too eaay to end up mtth 
too many advdfts one after the 
cftier, which doesn't look good 

With the tick off ahe«t 
planned out roasonably well (It 
changes dmiy in mifKjr ways 
due to atterations in design, or 
because an article en<& up 
being longer than originally 
planned tor), layout can start 

CRASH ks li^ed out on grid 



sheets. These sheets, slightty 
largef ttian A3 5is;e, csxitain 
two pages aide by side, pre- 
printed with pale blue ifnea 
which denote the mai^imum 
page size {A4), text area (so 
itTat ttvere is a neat margin all 
rourKJ) and other deta^is like 
the voflical quartar . third and 
fmit page cdumna for lining up 
the text. 

The bromides whidi have 
anived ftwn the typesetters 
contajnir>g all the written 
material, aie trimmed and 
stuck down on the sheets. It is 
here that the real #ddl oomei 
in, because the tvpeeetting 
must be cut up arKJ arranged 
on the page in an ordedy and 
pleasing manner, leaving foom 
tor fimmm aivj captions At 
the aan^ttme the photographs 
must be slotted m, A photo- 
graph is ref erred to as a con- 
tone or continuous tone, 
meanirtg it is made up of evaiy 
elemwit of grey from bteCK 
through to wtte. The printir>g 
press won1 be able to cope 
wtth this, as all mono printing is 
literally only black arKl whrte. 
a^afore rt can be stud< into 
position on the grid sheet, the 
ph Olograph must be converted 
ffito a PMT wfiich starKis tor 
Photo Mechanical Tint {a tint is 
lots of regular dots) This is 
done on the Process Camera, 
a machine whicfi can reduce or 
enlarge a photograph through 
a fine optical screen of tiny 
dots. The resulting bromide 
boks like ttie original, but is 
ac^ualty made up of thousar>ds 
of black dots of varying si^e 
(see picture}. The PMTs may 
rhen be stuck down in posrtion 
to complete the paga. 



ADVERTISEMENTS 

ANOTHER funcifco of the pro- 
duction deparlmenl is to 
erasure that advertisefs' 
material arrtv«& on time, ^n the 
oon'ert Stili. and goes off to 
the printer. In th« main there is 
little production work to be 
done on ads, as ^ 
advertisers ahouU have 
already done tt all. It merely 
remains to attach a piace m 
papef to the tilm containir>g the 
ad and write on H the page it 
should appear on so that the 
printer knows. But in sorrie 
c&B&B additiona] work is 
required. This may be mirxjc. 
like the altefation of the 
advertisers coupon oocto 
which tells him what issue of 
which magazine the iXHjpon 
came from. Sometimes it ^^^ay 
mean doing quite compiex 
process woifk on the proce^ 
camera to get the ad into a fn 
state for printing. 

We do some of the more 
simple colour edttorial work 
in-house, tnjt most of it has to 





150 CRASH Chrfstmas Special 





A lit orf »tfT«f1ji«f I lilm iipifitipni ofi IHb lifM IflbJe ?N IWSiKtt Qrf ItlfB curi 
ihl^rmitiDii to bt pMnl«« m Mietftiti. Cifun. Ytiw lid lUdi. Til pmillEiWi 
dBH^rnitni only h%g io itf ih«t vilJi ■ piicf vl piN* huflti tilt pi|t mMbv Di 
vithkch Itit itf 11 to apfi«if . tni iMi tiiva h leta pi^Ltr. 



1 




CUMH if liiil «iri Oil grti ihf tii jof Ltfoift iNtttS T>re ^«fiil ^th§ c;«Imvnh mi fi«t 
tilH II mni94 in i pilt blii4 kll, vNicH Itii prDCiti cjmgn tin I t*l\ tt t^i pmvtl 
m»lin4it uf fl^ ire oRif ttitlllvi Id rtri uf b^id Sa (nii when rrprtttltnf 11 ituct prl Oki 
thi«tt intf irtfl^T irt fkhqiognphtd in lh» pfa^tvi amifi. ill Iht h^ut linti F«mjin 
intiii:b^e Tneii hfiiii in uuij l^ H-mng up typttfiiing. hiH le&it tie 
H*fi nt tee Qiviti Wittifn pLicini i piact lar tvptiitlif^ qa i pni fhftf. THi 
ifpiitf1ii»s cwnti in t lififl roll whiEii muit H d^&ppi4 le tif M pi«t. iM thfMti |< 
m\ Dulsirie Eht wrilmg, la Itiil ct^t ilfltt lihviii lit c^wfM Cifi ta dnwn l« 



CRASH CliristFnas Special tSI 








m^i 



bo s«Yt iQ London, to a 

tptdeM hous€. Pages with 

colour have the text stuck 

down and are itmrked up to 

show where the ook>ur trane- 

parencies should go. Modem 

high speed cotour printing is 

done using only four coJours, 

Magenta. Cyan. Yellow and 

EUad^. Any ocAc^t photograph 

mt^ be scar^ned and 

separaled so that film is pr o- 

duoed tor each of the four a>l- 

ours. The film is. o* course, in 

tM<M and whne, and contalw 

the photographs m the form ol 

a PMT, ie. Ihousands of dots. A 

set of four pieces of film oon- 

taining the page is known as a 

set ol separations, beouse 

the four co<<xjrs have been 

separated from each other 

When eadi of these four layers 

is printed one on top of the 

other in regisler in its proper 

cotour, the result looks as rt it is 

in full cotour Jus! like the 

original. It is in this fomi thai 

advert^fifs' film sfiould arrive. 

Eventually all Die gfkl sheets 

are laid out, complete with their 

headings, tejct^ captions. 

pictures in PMT forni, page 

numbers and any illustratiorrs 

and they are almost ready for 

frie printer The artworh in 

CRASH is dene by Oliver Frey 

While the issue is t)eing laid 

out, tia WIN be painting the 

oovar, the comic mip Termioaj 

Man. any other ootouf work 

that is required, and adding 

small blade arK) white 

iltystrattons where David has 

left room for lliem. His colour 

work also gets sani off to the 

speoalists in London to t)e 

scanri^d and screened arxJ 

planned together with any text. 



PRINTING 

MOST magazines today are 
printed on high speed Web 
Offset machines, which are 
enofmous. The w* refers to a 
vast, continuous roll of paper, 
big enough to print 3 or 16 
papM simultaneously on 
aHner side. Offset refers to ttte 
fmA that the image on the 
printing plat© is inked, makes 
contact with a roller, the image 
iB trartsfen-ed to this roller, 
whl^ then contacts with the 
paper - i n ottver words th e plate 
ar>d paper never actuaJEy make 
oantad, they are offset toim 
each otf>er. 

The plates vrftich are 
trapped into the printing 

152 CRASH Christmas Spedal 




1 



OMv tr Frty 1 1 #Dft m softi i e Dioy r til 1 Df 1 he Jttue Q4 irif waitt inth hm c^v«Ai»ont^ 
Ifvihii iihd in alPtruih. titiiig inhJ do boiit Oftm tti# arl|liuli irt twee iri4 Nnrihed 
till IQ itFcFtf tor m^t dtliil vorl T^n bmrtf wLlI lit itiH to Ljindw wfiiri t\ will bt 
luniid Inin co^^ur ii^introni nn i liiif iumi^r. iiiil Ihifi comitrpd «itii tilt ri4iTiAl 
ttiT Tht If II El nuck de«9 on 1 iffuntt §r\4 ifitti 




Tht PrK«B Cm m An«wt qr ^hotunphi to tt tmccttii if e pi ic*d pn m§ t^ig 
lmK4 lt«H bOttHti. tt»d*ri f^m§ of fTtu A vtcuun H t^hsd \<t U^ ivtry^int 

ilulutMT nif pHfifful i\^ fUtlktr |l4t iilii«Miitli Itii iiItoI. Qfi ta^ tiiwaitMf 
vKUiffl hu4 Hefi Hit bfwnJit j^pir sc tilm ii plK«0 mm v^isti iht tiiMit tt In ftt 

piice4 liet tewti iM top gt I plntii Mial tmtA of dnli Id nult i PUT of ^irf l^t 



press, have been made from 
mm. 

CRASH shoots its own 
nfKMio film This simply means 
that the grid sheets containing 
two completed pages are 
placed under the proce^ 
camera and photographed 



onto a similar sized sheet of 
photo film. The result is a black 
and whrte negative Th© pro- 
cess camera does not see' 
pale triue. so any of the grid 
sheets lines used for layonit, 
do ndl photograph through. 
Cokxjf is done similarty, 



accept tttere are the four- 
colour film ahaala fof ea<* 
page, and tfi«Mi art uauairy 
oontacted tmtM to maice a 
po^tive image on the film 
(whic^ is easier tor the printers 
when rt comes to lining up all 
those dois in roister li^tween 
the four iayers) 

All this fi]m, including the 
advertisefS' film is sent to the 
printer, in our case CariisJe 
Web Offset in Cumbria The? 9 
they take the film and stick 
together p^ges in btodcs of B 
The 8 fiim pages then get laid 
on top d specfaily photo- 
sensitised plates and exposed 
to ultra violet light. The film 
image is transferred to the 
plate, and whether H is frc^ 
negative of positive fiim, the 
image on the plate comes out 
as a positive, mesa flat plates 
are then carefully petitioned 
on the pnntir>g press and roiled 
into a drum The Harris pre 
sses are capable ol printing 
about 30, 000 oorms an hour, 
arxl the paoaa oome off the 
press already folded, so that 
several ^ctrons can be 
siipped one inside the other 
ready for stapling and NnaJ 
irimming. 

From the printer the bundles 
of CRASH are delivered to 
oarriers under inatnjdion from 
Comag. the distributors of 
CRASH Before th© issue is 
printed Comag. wiiJ have done 
all the work neccessary to 
ermure that newstrade 
wt^olesalef? have got thetr 
orders in. This is what deddes 
the actual print run. 



oi>[>l 



a 



3C 



an 



5 WINMNGCLASSICS FROM 






meofl 



Our ultimate 3D pfogram — the mutti- 
screen mission to save the dying 
crawler crew trapped at Braxx Bluff. Undock 
and land, walk In search of the crawler, drive it through 
the marsh, the ruins and the desert — one track wrong and you 
are deadi — skim the rocky seas at top speed . . the natives are 
after your energy, but caution costs time and the crew are dying. 
There never was a cockplt-yiew mission like the one to Braxx Bluff! 



Rjil Throttte places you on the 
saddle of a 500cc Grand Prix 
motorcycle. You can choose to 
race on any of ten of the 
Morid's top racing circuits. As 
a newcomer, you are started at 
iie back of the grid in a field of 

40 bikes. Vou have the 
best bike in tlie race, but that alone will not 
help you! 



at^ 





MAT is mankinds lasi hope! The 
desperate plan to pEace in the mind of a 
teenager the combmed tactical skilis of 
ail the planetary teaders in the solar 
system, Ntowyour mind is MATs 
mind. Take control of the USS Centurion Battle 
Cmisef and Tactical Command Centre to contro^ the planetary 
defence fleets against the Myon attacks in MISSION; ALIEN 
TERMINATION. 



3D as you have never seen before on 
your Spectrum! £6.95 will put you 
ngtit on the saddle of the Big Bike! 
Ride deep into the forest through day 
and night, chasing the enemy riders. 

Weeve through the trees 

at breakneck speed and watch 

out for helicopters and tanks - 

y^ the greatest prizes of alt! 




Where netherbeast Grako is building his power There's much 
to discover and dangers abound- Free-moving agents may 
help you or Nnder, but might be befriended cf ways can be 

foufwJ- The atehemist lore-work was false and a failure, but 
renders good service in different vein, vaixiuished 
aggressors might be your protector. In peritous places of 

dark, death artd pain. Of devious problems and magical task, 
this song is a warning, a nddle. a clue. To Caraland's saviour 
It offers a little, So mark well its lines for the savk)ur is 
you . . . 



AT £6.95 
EACH 
FOR THE 
SPECTRUM 



Selected titfes 
avadabfe through 
larger brartdies of 




John 



sseGtikCSim 



JUST RELEASED 

JASPER 

R>r the 48K Spectium 

the most amazir»g 
arcade atfv^lure y^, 
wrth 22 screens of 
stunning cartoon 
animated graphics 
seeing is beiieving - 
seetht 

edvertisemont in this 
issue now. 



II 



I 




T'Shirts & 
Binders Offer 




FREE IN-DEPTH 
INDEX I 

As Uoyd Itafigtwn fMntionsd \s\ 
Ml tKjjiiJ^ht't b^igW to 
9M M KluMlW {^\o (|ttr>6ftHdty 
p pc p v fciiq him wHi A iecofid tlrvy 
diak) and omajiiM in \f¥im N>r 
tfw l2iMiit» yoi^ bindAr ^ Md, 
Thi Incte to ilwokiMy FHEE Id 

wflf b# S0fvt AutofTurtinffy In Jahu* 

So mskm sure you turn your 
iQAlMil tnio E^>e CPASH SfMctnim 
SoAwATV ErievclofMAcilAl 



Be a Superior Alien with your very own 
CRASH T-shirt and sweatshirt! 



•md m* .^„CflASH T-thktt Name: _, 

@£4.SOSOIIOLO AdtkssK 

BMr*«t»hlrt(q CSSSaONDLD 



irii Mi pi Tinw ii i i 



_€flMM BMATfl) 



^ UJiO r 0odow Cheque/PO payBWi to CRASH MIORO C. 
add 4pp^, ^tM«tAcw^<liiyi*af # >i ii< t y 



CRASH MICRO. Fr3«p08t, Ludlow, Stirop»hlr« SY8 IBFI 






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^^I^^^^^^^^^Hj^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^H^^^^^^^^^^^^ 




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Put 1 
a sfttf le ■ 
on your I 

foce. . . 1 


^^^^^^^^^^^■_-^^^^^^^P^^^^^^^^^^^I^^^^^^HBH 


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...gefa j 

CRASH 1 
sweat 1 

sMrt I 




( 



I 



GUDE TO THE UNIVERSE B^RT 1 



Not justa game... 

' ... more a way of life 



> 



\ 




-^. 



%\ 



\ 



\ 



1 





^Spectrum (1 

£7-50 1 




Soft wafWSy ( 


"nnre/y 


P 




ADMtNtSTRATION 

AS you can see, Vn^B cs quiie 
a kri that goes imoprodudng 
an tssu« Off CRASH every 
rmxtth, and this is only 
icrak^ng at the surface. An 
tmportanl adm^tstrativ^ araa 
Es liasJng bem&rni pnniB€ and 
ctetiilxjlor lo get the print mn 
righi. Put simply, magaztntft 
seil through news agents the 
news agent is stocked by his 
local whd^roier, the 
whotMaler gets his rapj«s 
irom the distributor, vyho 
organises the whole 

machinery To keep track of 
everything Ccfnaig ^^es com- 
puters eorteiisfvely. not only tor 
accounting purposes, but also 
tof collating information 
relating to clerr^ajid, so thai 
pyb4i$hers like CRASH can 
s&e wtiefe sales are good and 
where they are noJi so good 

Bui another impc^taiit 
administratrve area is 
ir^ten^lly seeing that 
ivefything happens wfion II 
sliouJd, and this mduites 
dealing wrth the Hotline and 
competilion r^^Jtfi, 

Administration also has to look 
that we get paid for advertising, 
and don t get burn^ fingers 
From companies like Imagine, 
who can run up enormous hilts 
without payir^ them. It's a fine 
balarK«C 




k £Dfnp4tlf4 ipr^tf si Ivs trif f f |04« 

un$m m umtfi Ifi H ntof M ihat in 
n«qili VI film Tftt lilm utHt it I i^iic lit 
Fipltf Drint lltti IMm \M □nly fvieti Id d»iEl 
w wft'ili. nM iTfr). Attir iipioiiuff inii 
lilm IS tHi inlQ I pr^cttiv whieti 
itviispt, til II mttii ind dr^ll m%i\\m 
lAibiwn minyti. 

Mi|irtiirf rilmi tr« ^iPtfln ipnctltd mnOi 
Hm plf^|nclt auttd bf quie, vtnti; n 
impOHitlll 10 IvQiH T^ffic will f n<i up it 
inUt ILlcfc l^tQUii an Ihi pr^iilil pige 

U IfttY IT I 'ipi^ttitf €iUl Wl thf RlUhVt 

HirK t pin #111^ C£Mntiini i tM inl 
Pifltl wUrcH *i>ll ippiir ifl t&l^ur thf fl |p 
Mi^uf h I licond f i»g# wh«riihc 
fl4|ilkve Ei cpiAicl pfinti^ la in^Htifr 
i?i«il si FiDin pfint iiim in tht ^t^cuu 
cimin IS itt^li m I poiilivi imigi 




T^btli Mi illtiillifHt>llaitoiM Wfta Or'ier ^nutt ii CuiiUi i piini ^n Cumbria. Lifi 
rarnQroufid It ilii pi^r io«r w^tc^ cinktt Itii rulii ol pi^ (iflint ef #liiifli can *t 
iitr^ on iht ritNii, Nf ontf tttt P4|iii tomif voti Ui ih fit itin hwit Eich hiii' 
tirfie* Nfo injmt trm*^ nFfticft ms pitltl tri wtwp4i idtf Oil sftim ffllitft wftitti 



trtnltir thf jnfcttf ijntDi tQ thi jiipf r Fiui bcHh AJdit vi tilt MPi' *F> pnntid witti S 

pig II on tnhir iklff . f l^it linl Tnir fttidi' iii Fck l^t i:ot(Mjr Pif n. 1H« ^^^ om Pf^v^i 

thv Cv*n . iicml priHti ihi lAioinu . iihind pr»mi mi Yi^lsw iik thit Joudh pnmi ih« 

; eiici Thi um Hue prknti im mono onif pipti Itrond ifii fm pnnt»B« unl^ yw un 
^_ ... ^. . . . .. .. ... .„„ ^.. ^.._. ... .. jj ^^(11^ iij, ^11 

iUfliI iiil^ lAi loJHilfti tttllort I Adt viSibLll «Hitft HH roll It iutDih||:l»llv t&lltlM f ll 



^niiiHl iidioni will »i Mldtl. i4i1diiid am trimniBd to t^t imitiiid M 
t4li. aundM hn 501 and dilivfratf to Pomai diiSrlMitrt dI €Mtn 




CaAJH tacbnicjil miji n f piaco Fra^f , 

l«f n here dtMii<{|i mio iM innirit ^ llvi 
Spedty m m grtptnl mn l w m irti el| 



BACK TO BED 

IN ofity another f e^ days ttii^ 
issue wilt bB going to bed. and 
a new year wi<l be arriving. 
There is always a rush at 
Chnstmas time to get 
magazines through pnntera 
who aie packed to capacrty. 
ard this one has been qurte a 
big issue. By the end of this 
week, as it comes lo shooting 
the fiJm, most CRASH staff will 
be repeatii>g the old phrase - 
H's a nighbnare^' But a lew 
days after that, (hey II be 
knuckling down to the finrt 
issue for 1 985 - H never stops! 



M«« m OUiH riach ttit eiwtiii mi tliif iHigfc mr diatrfiul v COM£ . ^n i ai ih« 
lif^flf in AfTttin Thiii mt« twa Niia wtrN th« nm vholiiiln tlviHiaVi^^ul ^t 
raualPt Nffl a1 IM mM LiMWtim IHnfl * H SmMh iftd J MtflJ^. A l«Tie lalM Idki 
tniurii ifiii BfdM le^ eap^ « Iwi up lo 1^ mii^i^ ^ TUt iiub ol rHi tiif ctif i% . oi 
tOHinf . tN compultr wHlfllhHfilm on cepi«f oidtrid tnA tmi 




CRASH Christmas Special t57 




Diract r&aponoef Kve finally done it! Two i^u^s ago I "^ 
bemiM r^ad the (ad ihai \h% software induslfv was so ^^ 

complaoe m - it tMfned that no matter what ( wrote Of said , "fy 
I couldn't g^t thraugti the thick skins of the people who need 
to buck: their ideas up. But - over tim laM momh rt ^o^rns to 
have¥/orkod 




Rr^t of all John Pjlerry fof fle/- 
chswaid fame -now of Scoc*^ 
pio Game* world) rara up to 
lay that not of>fy was R&ictts- 
wafd a t>nliian1 game (a poirrt 
which J obrviously missed when 
reviewing i1) btJt that my rema- 
rks about his girth were total^ 
urifounded and iibelkxjs. 
Ouoth he: This kind of patty 
dander makee my btood 
BOIL!' 

Me: Sorry John. I was onty try- 
ing to tiveo up a really ie<ious 
supted/ 

I was hoping tt^at John would 
send in a couple of before and 
after pk% as in^efutable proof, 
but ir^ead he hurtled on 
aibotit wMhdrawing all Scot- 



plo's adveftfsing from CRASH 
(ho-hurn. here wa go agam) 
which isprobatriy why Roger la 
refusing to pay rm. 
My apologies also go out to 
Argus Specfaliit Press, who- 
se representatives threate 
ned me with legal action and'or 
severe tXKJity diSfnemberment 
- I didn t reaRy miean to say 
anything honiWe atx>ut your 
wonderml magazir^es ch^ips. I 
was of course talking about 
EMAP {at this pdnt the editor 
grasps me firmly round the 
windpipe As I feel the life-force 
drainiriig from my limbe I man- 
age tp scrawl ONLY JOKING 
I P€OPLE. I LOVE YOU ALL)I 



THE CRASH SANDINISTAS STRIKE A BLOW 
IN THE CITADEL DE CAPITALISM 



Dr. to put rt another way. this 
month's repon comes lo yoy 
direct trm the Ritz Hotel in Pic- 
adilly. London. Unfortunately 
tils does rxrt mean that 
CRASH has seen the light ar^ 
flBftsd treating its reviewers 
wtth the respect they deserve - 
we d be lucky to get a room m 
the Red Cow in Ludtow. It 
mearts tat l went along to the 
'most prestigious award for 
antflfteur program mftm Ders- 
mofty. the Cambridge Awanl 
Funnily enough. IV© only fee- 
•filly reviewed last years win- 
ner ind runner-up. SaJ^te W17 
and W&r 70, so I thought i had 
m idee of v^tat toexpect: but in 
the event I was pleasanily sur- 
prtead. There were four iinal- 
m genneft, which t ve reviewed 
below. They can all be loosely 
described as sirategy' games. 
But first I must teN you a little 
alxKit Hre actual event itseff. 
siTO^ I fe#l moraJty obliged 
under the freeloaders' code of 

As ) entered ttie Rte in my 
rainbow- St hped jumper and 
my hardware jeans, \ sensed 
thai something was riot quite 

158 CRASH Christmas S pedal 



right - why wasn't I being 
thrown out on my ear for tkA 
wearlryg a tie? Well, apparently 
it you are gotng to a private 
function then you don1 have to. 
Great, t thought; let's just head 
straight for the bar m my usual 
manner. Having focated the 
Mane Antoinette suite. I made 
the mistake o1 asking the bar- 
man for a drink. I say mistake 
because th mm was fairly well 
blaMed by the time [ arrfvftd 
and he could onFy understand 
the kind of tourist' French tt^ 
the waiters oii />eff to spik. 
(Was he on a peroerMde from 
Beefeater ? J An^ay. T got a 
gin big enough to farm tSmon 
in, topped up with about two 
mUirneiree oftor^ic water. Now 
I'm net tictually i^iai keen on 
neat gin, so I asked one of tfie 
floating French perigulns to 
fetch mea bitter lemon so that I 
CoukJ mix It with the half-pint ol 
gin. A minute later he returned 
with a sjk^e of lernon on astick: 
Your t)eet urv Umon monsieur. 
' he said? 

Things went from t>ad to 
wor^e. RUSSEii AND Caroi 
from WhItB Dwar* arrived, atr- 



°^SPONDE^ ^ 



eeifv half cut, and pounced on 
a Qi cha|>, hoping to have a 
msaningrtlvl discussion about 
artificial intelliger>oe The man 
was so scared he ran away. 
The waiters wrested our half- 
erripb glasses from our hands 
and topped them up with y@t 
mora neat gin By now I had 
iMftBd to acquire a taste tor 
neat gin. and wtien I was aoco- 
Sted by the Argus heavies I 
was able to fend them off with a 
bottle of (yes. you guessed rt) 
gin. Julian Fuller from Micronet 
got very eamesi with a man 
from Teloaxn about Multi- 
user EKinoeon I think that it 
ever a nudeaf war is imminent 
I shall book myseK into the 
Riti, because H's ttie only 
place Iknow wtiete you can get 
drunk in yndar eight mirnjies 
without even trying! 
Tlien the buffet lunch arrived » 
consisting of a load of raw. 
minced meat on what looked 
like pieces of Ryvila (I have 
since lamed that this is in fact a 

great deicacy known as Steak 
'lane J and some kind of Sca- 
mpi -- or was 11 Pork Balls? (Tlie 
kind you get at a Chineee 
take-away, i rneanl) Then the 
speecties t^egan. greeted wtth 
thunderous applause The 
sponsors of the awards ware 
C- C; S. . StnclEir Us^r magaz- 
ine and Sinclair Research 
Ltd, I think that most of us 
who'd managed to stay sober 
were hoping to have a w(xd 
with Sir aiw abou! his ptsns 
for world domination and whe- 
ther we d be able to buy shares 
in Sinclair in 1985 (ha-ha) But 
alas. It was not to be t>acause 
he didn t show up instead we 
had to make do with Nigel 
Saarie who is (only j the Mana- 
ging Director. He spoke about 
now Sinclair had been respon- 
sible for getting computing off 
the gn>und in tt>e U K. . and 
how ple^^ they all were to t>e 
British a-id aJi ihat«j.'t of twrsg. 
My associates Russell arxl 



Carol kept making dis1Jr>c1ty 
negative oomrrtems at partkaj* 
larty high volume, which made 
one feel slightly cx^nspjcuotis. 
The Cfiairman of C. Cp S. made 
a rather ram&iing ipaec^ and 
ieefned b little ovef¥^t>elrn0d 
by the whole situatiof^: but 
then, if he had *unk as much 
as I had then I wouldn t tie at al 
auiprtead. John Gilbert of 
Stocteir User rnade a punchy 
birt totaJly vaaoMm wpeedh 
about what a britliant magazine 
he works for. John Shefryf* 
rom Keela raoalved the award 
from Nig^ Setrte for his prog- 
ram The Prince , and k>oked 
undefsiar>dabty pleased with 
hi maelf since he'd just won 
£2,000, 



THE PRINCE 

Author: John Sherry 
Producer: C. C* S- 
Retail price: £7.95 

The 1984 Cambridge Awaid 
WInneriThiss is a very complejc 
program for four players wnteh 
acfualty demands quite a lot of 
thought from the participant ft 
is reminiscent of the board 





game Diplomacy' in rhai il prch 
vktes a vast amouni of scope 
for imef-playefr negotiations. 
Tbe gam^ is basod on Machia- 
vrili S dassJC c^ronicte of R©fv 
aissancs rntngua (The Pri- 
hc© } and the task is to retTOve 
a Maet ob^ arxl word and 
pretmt thorn to Iha Princid in 
oittor toboooma his chl9f achn- 
s^. Each of the players has a 
€hifidef on the screen v/ho 
hokte a certain measure of 
power: to example, Porcus the 
MerchanI can tend rrroney to 
other characiets, while Bntrther 
Ambfoee can dispense graioe. 
The Prirrco wit refuse to aae 
anyone who has too many s)r^ 
outstanding, and it s well nigh 
Impossible toavoid oommrttirig 
Ihi cx^casionai sin abng ttw 
way, such as sending out your 
heochrrmn to' hit" another pla- 
yer. Of even stealing the ooje- 
eii tt^emselves Each player 
has a spy and a thug to help 
him odl&ct information and 
hamper his rrvals' efforts , but 
as there is only an initial select- 
kMi of six of each type, the c^- 
nc« of your m^n being doubte 

r Its 6vefy high . 
other players are required 
to leave Ihe room while you 
take you r turn on the ke y boar d . 
and you can leave phony mes- 
«^^ arourd the castle for 
Ihern. steal their ladders as 
wdl as all sorts of other devi- 
ous tn<i(s Also, the opportunity 
tes for oft screen disintormai- 
iOfi are enormous. Bui one of 
the problems with the game is 
that f feeJ it's unreasonable to 
expect th players to maintain 
tm preterice and secrecy for 
tfve amount of time it takes to 
play. One feature of the game, 
brlnettnce. is being renderad 
'bKOmmunlcado' at certain 
pOhitSp whch means that you 
mn wk to ihe other piayefv 
alf«cr9en> I have my dquilli m 
to whether this is par&ailarty 
pradJcaL Also, the command 
itrudure isonly liktfy to be 
UffedefMood byhardened adve- 
nture freaks. 

But these are only minor quib- 
bles. The graphics arvi charac- 
ter set are very neat and very 
fffisl. and the basic sl/ength of 
the game as a multi-player 
experience should not te mis- 
sed. I haven t really l'^ lime to 
get to grips with The Prince as 
yel because of its great compl- 



extty , r^ot to mention the ditficu- 
Ity of getting four piayers toga- 
thee at the same tisme. But say- 
ing that, I think this one should 
see me through m^t of the 
winter. 

Vef did :a real step forward In 
computer games. Makes 
Sabre WmUxk&H&AHcAtac. 



INSURGENCY 

Authof : Nicholas Holgate 
Producer: C. C, S. 
Retail price: £5.95 

I mim OTntMS that t really do 
not know fiow C. C S. do H 
One minute they put out a taily 
enthralling gajrie such as The 
Prince . the next they try to fo^ 
the most awfui gerpMO on us, 
Ifke BtuB Ribma. Then they 
bounce back again with an 
excellent offering like Insurge- 
ncy, I must confess to bmrug 
to^fy baffled. tn$ufgmcy is a 



SfM^tflHtl 



n 




INSURGENCY 




^ftfo-player game of guerilla 
warfare in which one player is 
the Sancfinlstaa. or t!>e VC's, 
white th other is the usual fasc- 
ist oppressor Thof e is a seJect- 
lon of 1 00 maps to play on and 
each contains a number of vill- 
ages connected by roads, 
several areas of jungie (aoces- 
Sible to guenilas and army f>el- 
IwptefSj and mountains [inac- 
cessible to all). In each map 
the Quenllas are being suppl- 
ied from the fskxlh arid the 



amy from the South Suppfies 
anive by air throughout th# 
game, txil you have to be able 
to coliect them The army has a 
wider chice of untts, with am> 
our, aircraft, artillery, trucks 
and medics, but the guerillaa 
have an advantage of being 
able to move faster through the 
lungle. thus remaining out ol 
readi 

s the game progre^es each 
side bul^^jJpf Pteture of the 
ottier'a poetoDfi by m^aiis of 
inJeWgenoe reports, and thm 
they attempt to take ovef villa- 
ges, block roads with mines 
arid so on, The guerillas c^ 
reCTuit villagers and provide 
them with food and arms. But 
the arniy medics can improve 
their herth, which helps to bring 
them l>ack into the govemment 
fold 

The number of options availa- 
ble at any one time is amazin- 
gly high and I got really invol- 
ved in running mv Mujaheddin 
campaign As with The Pnnce- 
though, the drawiback is that 
only one playw is supposed to 
tm at the acroen M any time. 
which stikes tra as Mmething 
of a oontradictKon wtian you 
OQfi^ider that mufti-player 
gaiTies are supposed to bnng 
iKriased sociatMltty. The gra- 
pNcs also teave something to 
be desired (aitf^ough they are 
well up to the usual strategy 
game standard - which isn t 
very high]i. All In ali. howavef , a 
very iinpraetlve game, and the 



author or«towateh for the fut- 1 
ufe. 

Verdict :at E5.95 may be even 
better yalue than The Prince 




BLUE 
RIBAND 

Author: David Bark 
Producer; C- C- S, 
Retail price: £5,S5 

BluB Ribancf after Tlie Pr^ce 
is going frofn tfie sutilime to the 
noculoua^ In the game you 
have to pilot a large sea ferry 
around a number of islands m 
the shoflest possibte time wit- 
hoy t getting suhk. To assM 
you. you have radar, engine- 
room telegraph and wheel. 
Sounds todbi^? It iSn 



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I 



CRASH Oinstnas Special 159 



Okay, nmif I kiww that you lo« CHJt ttMfit tran't going to Im 
pflrtrcularty worti«d aboul ttiJs, but all thai attitf «(bove w«i In 
fact iMrman for 9m ImM J»«u« - do I hoar a (»>lleictlv# ahgh of 
raliof Irom m my fans? You thought that Roger had finally 
ttapgarad in horn ttw Gay nabaliero in Ludlow Hi^fi Stmet 
arMJdi>imls:^ied Ihia p^th^tk «aqu«« for a Gonzo toumallal - 
but howp wr^Ang ymi w^H^e! fDrwrj m/^ too soofi, Gofizo -£d^ All 
Itiat hdpp^nad waa ttiat in my urthlngod atata of mIfKl 
(broyght on by an ovordose of gin) I mfaaed the daadline. 
th# rMson I monrion thJa Ja bMaute 1 vafv nearly mlaaed tti^ 
■d a a d iliM? for ihit» ^h^ue too, on account of a cl<^e encountar 
ariln dtoitth. 



As I dfovo irtio my day job 
( aven wb tamnus toumaJists 
hava day iobs - hyperactiva 
Derak Brawstaf's ^ about 
aight!) tt>@ olhor day, my 
moiprtHha and I paiteo com- 
plmr 00 the rear wing erf a 
blade Cadillac iifty^me (this 
bit S fXJt entirdv true fl was an 
Ai^n AUagfo r^aiy) wtiich I 
coukj hava swom was baing 
driven by one of the Argus 
heavias or was it somoooa 
from DomaA? Anyway, youf 
hacoic CQfTdSfMXKteni ftew 
through tha air lof soma dis- 
tance, crarti tended on a cat s 
eye and onfy nairo^ly missed 
death idL the h^xl^ d at lea&t 
34 juggramauts. Meanwhila my 
Uk^ was aisowhare. battorad 
and bent. Shaken, txit not 
atbradf I crawled over to the 
aide of the road and duly col- 
lapsed I awoke m tio^ital witii 
ffta ttKKight that I had only 
aniQlheir twe^e hours to maef 
the CRASH deadlrne, so you'll 
hava to torgrve n>a »f soma of 
Ihe^ reviews are a litlle (ess 
Ihouqtitful and coring thai^ 
usual . but you know how il is - 
iMttef reacf than dead. 



0* ttte game is suspect from the 
stall. I m^spacl that Mrtes 
Bozeat has done this predsaly 
to achim^e equality c^ loroes 
But any wargiimer wMI M Wu 
how unnecossajy Ihat li* The 
obfactivas of tf\a game should 
bachanged- 

Fof example . in a standamd 
Avalon-HiH type board war- 
gama which is simulating a his- 
toric campaign, the rasult of 
the game overail may ba a 
foregone oondtisKKi. but the 
objective tor the piayer^ is 
simply for their side to do betlw 
tt^n actualty happened in his- 
tory. SO4 in Ru^sfBn C^mp&ign 
the G^mar^ win 1I thay are still 
holding Smotensk by June 
1944, The two playars' sides of 
the board in Atmm are exactty 
ttie same, which again is 
intended to create a mora 
equal starting petition in IStm 
pame; but it tends raliief to 
Lncreasa the feeling of unre- 
ality and pointJessness still 
further. 

The tioard itsalt is very large 
and beautiful ty produced. It 
contains a thin mefal sheet and 
the pieces are made out of that 



sort of magn^c plastJc that 
used to be on the back of 
L'plai^. Thi^ strikes me as a 
strange prasantabon decision 
in view of ttie fact ttial magriete 
and t^as dont mix too woll. 
Thus, if my Atram is okier tf^ai 
a lew weeks it wiH very likely 
have no program left. 

When the pieces are laid out 
on the boBfxi the appearance 13 
very impressive. Each side has 
three airfs^kls, two canierB, 
five bombers, twenty ftghleri, 
five anti-aircraft baltartaa md 
five strategic targets to deferKl^ 
But once you gel i nto the actual 
mechanics d the gama It 
t»econios tu<Scrous me com- 
puter program keeps track ol 
the amount ol fuet and 
weapons each unit has left, 
and other aspects of tf^a unit's 
status Sut the inputs required 
for each unit's movements are 
incredible; (or ^(adnplep a 
t>omb«ng run over an eneiny 
airfield might require the fof* 
lowing InpJjt to the oomputar: 
16S4E13R2M1S2F24 
EMTER. 

The trouble is. that as ttie 
game progresses you find 
yourselr having to nrmka this 
kind of entry lor every aircraft, 
and if ttiat s 1 5 or more charac- 
ters tha amount of time it takes 
to maka sure your fingers are 
oorrocaiy positioned doesn"! 
bear thinking about Of course, 
if your inputs tum oirt to be 
wrong you can find it^at what 
you're doing on tf>e board 
breaks away from what's on 
ttie computer, in whidi cm^ 
the whole game syatetn 
thecomas unplayatile A 10- 
mm& game dl Atram can take 



ATRAM 



Producer: Webstara 
Memofy requited: 48K 
Retail price: £19.95 
Author; Miles Bozeet 



AAram is billed as the lirst in a 
series of unique oomputer- 
akied board gamas' ar>d it 
comes In a massive board- 

rm type box. Aimm staixJa 
Advanced Tactteal Recon- 
naissance and Attack Mission. 
The kl»a behind it fs that it s a 
simdIaMon of a military exer- 
dsa carried otit by the Royal 
litavy and US Marine Corps 
ining axadly Itie samo 
VMapor%& -Camer Kamers (or 
AV 88 s as the Yanks caJrem). 
That s the author s fir« mis- 
take: who wants to play a simu- 
lation of an exercise? Anyone 
in the gamos business m\\ te4l 
you that ¥^hat the consumer 
vMTTte is slaughter, blood and 
guts, toflure. napalm, and 
Blade Magic, with a iittle bit of 
kMcy se^ thrown in for the 
oUer optm. So the whole klea 

160 CRASH Christmas Speciai 



upwards ol five hours to play, 
and. frankly^ I don1 think that 
the enjoyment from the gamie 
is at aN worthy of that sort of 
time. It's a shame realty, 
because I Uke the idaa ol 
cximputer-aklad boartt gamas, 
but this is denniieiy not one to 
bte^ the mouki. I urxlerstand 
that Webster's (distribmors of 
Boots software) put money 
into this game, in which case 
you'll probably sae it on the 
shelves at Boots, if nowhere 
else. It s the kind ol gante that 
your Dad wotiW probabfy buy 
you for Chnstmas: if I w&re you 
I'd demand the mor>ey instead. 




Verdict: Nice box, 
about Ihe game. 



fitiame 



WARZONE 



Producer: C, C. S. 
Mernory rectuired: 4aK 
Retail pfJc^; £5.95 

This b an tonpfeaatve game. 

oertainly the beat waigtme 
that C C. S. have released so 
far Even my giritriend liked it, 
so it must t>e goodl WarionB is 
a straight batUe between the 
tikia and red armiea (Hie 
compLrter controHlng the red 
amiies of course) over a 
sectored map measuhng thirty 
units square The player has a 
choice of infantry, artilery and 
tank units and can ctiooee tjp 
to ona hurxlred and fifty units 
In tow - whidi is matoned by 
the computer's side. The 
axTiputer generates a new 
tanc^cape for each game and 
deploys tfie units 
automaticaJty. 

Ttie physical features of the 
map are a little on the simple 
side, but inoorpc^te soma 
nice touchy such as giving 
longer range when firing from 
a hilHop Tne map does not 
scroll, but is selected by sector 
- this catiwa some problems, 
as you (^rmot kx3k at a sector 
where you do not ha^a pieces 
(I suppose this may echo 
roaJ'4ile military mteitigenc^, 
but it 4^n t»a ^bt^ frustrating] 
and you also cannot fire from 
arm seetor into another; which 
is dafinilefy not realistic. The 
program is all machine code, 
anoFesponds fast, though I 
greetely prefer the cursor 
selection type of p*ooe 
movement to the " J3 to Hff 
type of input as found in 

Verdict: the second best 
computer wargame I ve ever 
seen. 

Next month (wh&r^ I ve got my 
company car!) w© shouW have 
a couple more from CCS. 
Happy Christmas. 







SOFTWARE «<« 

The battle could be yours . . . . 
^ but it ysion't be easy! 






jcirS©!?5A 




,j ail>o¥e. In hii explof 



THE PYRAMID ^^ 

THE FYRAMID & an arcade stylr game wficfi f^as a ymry a^lventyrous 

The pyramid contains 1 20 chambefs on 1 5 teveh- In ofcter to grt trpfn 
one cfwnbef to anoth^ you mu^t fjght off t/ie rndjgenoLis ^ien$ to 

tfit two ^ctts^ 

The Pyranriid H inh^ bi a^ oy a loidi t>E 50 wwa ^irKj ^^ui ^juer i r/pc^. 
^ of which dre beautifuHy animated Itou w*l meet a whcrte variety d 
demom. drcucb. imacis and monsieri. with a sprmkiing of the mofe 
unusud, the r^fDra-terreurja) ivywzeis. galactic scr^wtjetiy. cosmic daw. 
mjQft eye. plus a vut>ole host of entities thai defy rational <lescnpt»on . 
Ifoul no dOuDt inwetit your own niclcnaiwi 

Itau proceed to e*plcpre the pj^afnid from top to bottom wiHi the 
Latfculty generally increasing v^ifi the depth of lewei Depending on the 
choice of exit from each charribef you are Jikety to have a drffefem game 
every hme you pUiy 

/^t from the challenge of trying to achieve the highest score 
pCKS*le Che pyramid cont^t The more 

cfiambef^ you SiJCcessJuily . ... . , . ^jthered to 

enat* you 10 dtecas«f (he secret numbers of me ^ 
lAron't take you day^ to solve, it vuill prooaoiy take you a tew montm 



DOOMSOAY CASTLE 

OOOMSOAr O^TLt corisisis of a labyrtnth of 7^ t) 
connected Haffe and p,^ - ^ =*- '^vnere you ivitl meet a wvr __ ._,_ ,. 
adversanas serving ir> y evil Scar ihaii. tint Ga^throgi the 

Orpnacs. the phe^ > - .ty Ckiogly & Fd and the Urks v^tich 

ffvinifr^.f Thf^msrtv^^ . . ,1/ untielievabiy weird and woiideriul 

•^ *sscoy*edmeUn*Mef5etobi¥igK)gfe^Teft^ 

stone rce United in Doomsday Casiie mey are tjemg used to 

wieW labke power over me cosmes. emanatrig waves of 

cof mpu^n u ifoygh every galaxy 

T^ <.^v*^ tN* t tnf^^r^jF y^ou musi Oaiite v^ n^ way t*¥Dugh the Qstie 
tc ^nes arKi usi eagarst Scaftha;^ a 

df>^i •■ ;y ^^ ^^ *- •■w.MLfy %^u'-\{iw\ nopefuJIy ek -ij.>jr ay yijyrseff isefore che fifvi" 
cata<:lysmic ejtptosjon 

iiie t2i$k IS not eayy isavmg the Universe never Isf) a 
you many games to unfoW trie sirueiure of Doomsday L^-.^^. . . 
ctecdver the locatiora of tne afKiem scones 

The addKriJvip ar ciwie style ,^ i r keep you coming back to play 

tXi I trie ovi^ f - ill c »-.;ii(enge sr^> u ^^ you occiipied fof n^^ >trr^ 



FANTASY SOFTWARE Is available from W.H.SMrTHS, JOHN IVIENZIES. BOOTS, LASKYS^ GREENS^ 
nUMBELOWS, SPECTRUM GROUf> COMPUTERS FOR ALL arid ail ottter good toftware retallen* 

Th« Pyramid mt £5*50 mnd Doomsday Castle at £6«50 from 

IWsfTASY SOFTWARE. fALCONBEUQ LODGE. 27AST GEORGES ROAD. CHELTENHAM. GLOS GL50 3DT 
despatched tjy reium first dass post togeif>ef with free memdership and current newsletter of tHe Fantasy Micro Club. 

Trade Enquiries welcofne - telephone 0242 - 583661 



BAMCS niATwwm 



W*?Bli5¥3: 



THE^ 

PRI2E 



!! 1 




r 




i^^H||^H|^^^^^^L r^^^^^^^^H 




* t 



jf^(r * Of* *iii* a rt*#i 




j^ j^as 




[ ^ \zm 










^^^Km^ 


LI 


F 


^^^^r^ 


^Plfc-'' ^^1 


^ 


B^^-^_ 



ii 









Sslacted ttllss 

•viHtble from: 

IWH Smith. Boots, Menztes, 

md Atl fioi)4 

Computvr Stofos 



FIRST 
PRIZE 



F The Pme Your mission to discover the innermost chamber ol Midas in a huge 
planetarv rna^e. tf syccessful you could be in with a chance of winning up to £§0001 
Only the strongest will survive the devious traps set by the gyardians, but just 
imagine what you could do with the prize. ... 

Cassette carries a special £2 discount voucher off your ne^tt purchase! 

Dealers, please contact us for very ArcadeScftwar^Ud, Technology House, 



special discounts on our games^ Phone 
Orpington 35639. 

Programmers. We are looking for high 
quality m/c games for the Spectrum and 
Commodore 64 home computers, send 
them in for evalyation. You have nothing 
to losef 

All games are for the ZX Spectrum 48K 
and cost just £5.50 each inc. p.p. VAT etc 



32 Chisk* hurst Road, Orpington, Kent BR6 OOG 
Tef Ofpington35639 



A L] I enclose a th^ue for C. 



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Can vou #bCAp« tiw *vil In Ht 
d«|9ithr&7 Originji «fid hm 
ditBtiiiity pwHted mtt iiinf d^ 

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p n debit my BarcEavcard/Access Account^^l 

C Q Name 

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LAST ?UMSfr 

Wha» * bomb hidd«n on che 
compttfii plwwl, Lattic*, bvf<ire it 
blovMll" . iictiortf>Kk«(Jg«itiv 
«MKtiv«"— SmdlwiiHr 



^ Bmcvuf 

Th* m^kx% Wit (0 i»t f •' in ihi* m 
hohj^ barred 2S sCr«n, iKrliOfii 
picli*d i*m« ' Triciky mid h^^H 
«nt«rt>fenlng'' — Per^ofiii Cvnpyipig 



bubU 




t 1 I I I I I I I I I I I I m » 



itioroiighlv ^flioftfd"' — Horn* 



We^e sorry you Ve had to wait so long for our first new 
release of 1984 but your patience will be welf rewarded. 

From Bob Hamilton, author of The Pyramid' and 
'Doomsday Castle' we present BEAKYAND THE ^ 

EGGSNATCHERS and introduce Beaky our new 
star of the video-game screen. 

(Ziggy is having a well earned rest I) 

Beaky belongs to — 

the family of 
Andromedan Armed 
Condors, the rare 
goggled variety 



z:^^ 




The numbers of his species 
are dwindling fast because of their 
rather -foolish choice of breeding 
ground, on the planet of CrackiL 
This unfortunately happens to ^ 
be the home of a particularly 
evil band of creatures known ^ 
collectively as the 
Eggsnatchers, Their sole 
malicious intent in life r 
is to extinctify Beaky's 
species by stealing 
or destroying the 
eggs by 3ny foul 
'^eans available 



"BSmSSVi 



for 
Spectrum 48K 

and 
Commodore 64 






ybur objeaive is to try and brood, hatch out and rear as many little Beakys as 
possible through 12 different screens of fomiidable but delightful arcade adJoa 

FANTA5V SOFTWARE Is avaJtffblG from W,H.SMrTHS. JOHN MENZIE5, BOOTS, WOOLWORTHS, 

LASinrS. GREENS, RUMBELLOUVS, Sf>€CTRUM GROUP ftnd Mi other good software rmt»ilen. 

Beaky »nd the Eggsnatchers is available for 48K Spectrum and Commodore 64 at £6.50 on cassette 

or on disk for the Commodore 64 at £9.50 from 

FANTASy SOFTWARE. FAUCOMSERG LODGE, 27AST GEORGES ROAD. CHELTENHAM. GLOS GLSO 3DT 
<Jesp3tched by tetutn fim class post together wim free mem&ership o' *' - - if )W5y Micro Oub 
Trade Enquifies welcome - telephone 0242-583^ 




20 GAMES AND 
10 UTILITIES 
TO BE WON!! 



Here's a chance to win the 
complementary graphics utility to 
GILSOFT'S amazing THE QUILL. 
We have 10 copies of THE 
ILLUSTRATOR and 10 copies each of 
the two latest adventure releases, 
MADCAP MANOR and THE 
HOLLOV^ to give away! 





The CHjUI has yndoublecily proved to be one of the 
mostsucce^^ful utilities ever written, allowing anyone 
with the imagination to write nnachine QodB adven- 
tureSt but Its graphics capability is very timiiML Now 
GILSOFT have released a new program to efilience 
The Quit! . fh& ttfu$tratof\B Intended to t>e used with The 
Qufll to provide full scale graphics for Quilted adven- 
tures, ftwefeap Manor and The HoUow are two more 
Quilled adventures in the tradition of the Gold Col- 
lection. Madcap Manor Is by the duo of Paul Styles end 
Brian Jenklnson, wtio wrote Windbendef, and The Hof- 
tow is from the quill of Tom Davis wtio was respons- 
ible for Gilsoft's devious Africa Gardens « 

10 lucky people will each win these three programs 
from GILSOFT, and to have a chance of doing ao, 
CRASH has devised a wholly original type of c^Mft- 
petitlon, one that is so difficult, only a truly clever 
adventurer could possibly undertake it. Bdow are two 
pictures which look identical (sounds familiar), but 
they're not quite the same. Examine the pictures <f rom 
Madcap Manor) and you may spot 10 differences bet* 
ween them. Circle the differences in biro on the picture 
in the form (or photocopy it ifvou prefer), fill in the 
details and send \t to: GIlSQfT COMPETITtON, CRASH 
MAGAZINE, PO BOX 10, LUDLOW, SHROPSHIRE SYS IDB. 
Entries must reach ua no later than first post January IS 
ISftS 



164 CRASH Christmas Special 






somiyyitjt^. 



4 




^■^Jc^ 



soFryuftflE 



5l/iD£ TO THE UNIVERSE f^RT ] ^ X 



.*• NrtjiStagcyne 



\0$f\ 



% 




^^^^^^1 


L ^5^ 


•« 


■4^ 


L 4a(Stac>ini *fl 




. .do 

* 


nt leav< 

The Pyramid, Beaky an* 


r 

shon 

d the Eggsnatc 

• 

• 


Software 

hersiavaili 

• 


• 

witho 

able on CBh 64 


utus 

p 





Mif4 VAT »d P A P 

fjjOHTLpiC JOVSTICIC £||l U| 



ALSO AVAIUIBLE FPOM 
SELECTED RETAIL 
CUTLETS 



Enqitvw 
Pton* UidiM MM4) MM 



IBIB 




THE 14TH ZX 
MICROFAIR 



THE14THZXMICR0FAIR 

was hdd at Ally Pally on th« 
weekefxjof ^7/1Bth 
November, 

There was invtml^y a threat of H 
being ovefBhadoMed by the 
MICROMABKETwtiich 
or^inaily was scheduled to be 
held at Ally Paily . bul was then 
moved to the WennWw 
Conference Centre- Tn© result 
was a vBiy poor atteiidance in 
Wembley and the usual crowd 
gathering at the ZX FAIRhM 
RabEts die slowly (whid\ 
should please Mike Johi^on 



the organiser). Less positive 
was the line- up of software 
hoiises Very few of the 
biggies showed up, meet 
stands being occupied by high 
ftreet dealers and smeller 
SOltwafe houses Amongst the 
noteworthy exceptions were 
DK'tronics wrth their usual 
5th Avenue stand, Automate 
with tt>eir entertaining 
fairground acth/iti^. Fantaty, 
iilcrcwphere and CCS 
Fantasy were dispiayinq their 
latesi hit Backpacker s Guide 
to the Universe, priced at 
£7.50p whic^ has generated 
he% sales figures within the 
first week of its launch, as 
Fantasy boss Paul Dyer tdd 
me with pleasure. Also |ust 
recently out is Drive In, whidh 



te another si^oot em up space 
arcade game selling at £5. SO, 
CCS have no less than 1 2 
new titles lined up. Ttre Prince 
ts a role playing strategy game 
which has wofi the Cambridge 
Award. It oodsts £7.95. Other 
strategy games aJI p^o&i at 
ES,95 are War Zone, 
Superpower I Air Defence 
and Insurgency- BFue 
Rlbandis an arcade sty)^ 
strategy game, while Barrow 
QyMtand Mieaion 1 942 cater 
for the adventure players, 
aoain at £5 95 each lomb of 
Akhenaten and Kuke Leer 
are further games in the 
Ghaiie Charlie Sugar' budge! 
fange and are both arcade 
games costing E2 99 each, 
flee HI me Softwares stand 



was being mn over by arcade 
freak a tryir^ io set a go at 
Starstrike, the ultimate Star 
War game with excellent 
SD-graphira (price E5 95)/ We 
are being floo<Jed with mail 
order* and distributor 
enoiilries^Rsamrm 
Softwares Andrew Onions 
sak} elated Soft stone was 
makir^ iisetl heard above the 
(Sn fl* ffie crowd with the 
eKCallenttuneof Fahrenheit 
SOOOwritten by Perfection 
softwares Timothy Williams. 
Aseque^lsal^eadyin 
preparatitjn Odyssey l. 
Force Fighterand Turtle 
Tlmewarp are now being 
marketed as budget games for 
^.99 each Also available 
from Softetone is American 



I 



^1 



168 CflASH Christmas Special 




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R#al lime ft IAN OLIVEJ? S ANDREW OHIQHS 



Footbfitf at £6.95 snd Word 
Seekef and Super BandH as 
a oombo f Of E2 99 
Softatones Tony Knigh^t told 
me that !wo further Spacfrum 
afcade/stratagy games am 
beirig d@vetiL>p@d. One is 
basdd on the Milk Tray TV ad 
and the oihm on the Dune 
fK^rvel and soon to i>e released 
film, wilh tht player being abte 
to dioose more arcade or 
strategy content during play. 
At Red Shltls Stard 1 met 
Qins Sh^he, who hm moved 



away from Microdeater UK to 
become Sales and Mafketing 
Director of Red ShHt and 
aemm to b6 dd^ an 
»c«H©nltobolit.jual 
ralaasad is Cfty of D«aid, a 
fde playing adventure game, 
and tn ffrepa ration is the 
release of The Tripoda bosod 
on the popular B8C smm. It 
"HOiM appear more and tmx% 
games players are turning to 
more intelligent and 
d^nanding strategy games 
and Rid shift has an 




interesting range. 
Apocalyptta is now available 
as a c^ifiipMB set w^th 1 4 
ditterent soenarios. 
Stsrdreams appeared in 
force and were displaying their 
n«tw adventure game Th« 
Sandman Cometh p need at 
£10.95. the presentation 
ipduding a video ad of the 
gameHi novd approach in this 
maf1<et Atlef their exceltent 
adventure Way dor Ipnce 
£7 50)lMS8cito»raaf« 
already releasing Ohoulles 
(fxjtfiing to do with fooltmllK 
which hopefuHy will send you 
shivers down your spine (price 
£7 50) William Stuart was 
demonstrating his speech 
recognition unit with a lovely 
Meccano bridge omne. 
conlioHIng n sold y with 
QMedn commands and this 
»ove the roar of the crowd 
The untt wrU recognise up to 
tan dtff er en! commands ai any 
one time, tnit the library o' 
words CTn be extended and 
stored His nerw product is 
Llrfelin«, a self analysis career 
OOuns^Nng program, an 
jntaresling piece of software 
whicfi HHO doubt CRASH wilt be 
reviewing shortly. The price is 
€14.95. Mta-Qsphere were 
dfessad tor the cession m 
proper sdhod fashion for their 
iP^QiiKent Skooldutlptice 
£5.95). On d^lay was also 
Skynnger, which is definitely 
nqt school materia), bm shouU 
nonetheless tajc your intellect 
toriDi £B9E} Seeing an Act 
Apricx3< Xi at the ZX Fair is 
rather unusual, but upon 
Investigatkm the reason 
beromes apparent. Steve 
Betts Software offers Crsif 
80, a Z80 assembler for the 
Act Apricot to produce 
rr^chir>e code to run on the 
Spectrum wrth a DC Intetlace 
1 and Microdrive or any other 
ZBO system with an RS 232 
port Serious machine code 
programmwi vvfll agree or^ the 
many advantBg^ of 
assembling the code on a 
sefmrate computer such as 
tt>e Apricot, but required is 
obviously a lot ol capital with 
ah Apricot and Craaa SO. 
whidh ir»cttJd0S a 3.5 inch 
floppy disc; a microdnve 
cartridge and a User ManuaJ 
and is priced at C95. Among 
the many add-on keyboards 
appeanrig on the market is the 
M01S4 from Mancomp Ltd. 
Costing £54.95 ft has very 
legible keys, indudra 
asctsnded moOm, delete and 
oiimr keys tnd a numeric 
pad and provides space for 
tt^ fully housed ZX Interlace 1 

CRASH Chrtstmas Sfwdal IBS 



NEWS I'N'P 



•rKtthe ZX power supply. 
De^ifa the efnergance ot the 
Spectrum P1ufl1h« market for 
WtiA-m keyboards should 
ooiiinue for all the many 
eTcisti ng Spectrum owners and 
for ihosa no!: lo keen on Ihe 
soggy Spectrum Plus key 
actiori Several floppy disc 
intadacas are already in 
toistenoeforthe Spectrum, 
tiut none as cocnplate as the 
surprise Ti men FDD Sy ft tern 
disf^^ayedbyMicromatic It 
offers a complele operaiirig 
system with disc and 
communications f adirty for the 
Spectrum and a1 £22500 



+ VAT is competrtivety priced . 
The CP/M upgrade option 
should rnakd ii an inter esling 
proposrlton for small business 
owners On display was also a 
Spectrum keyboard 
uparedetrom Tlm^M with 
e^celtent key travel and feel. 
Forlheassembty ttis 
necessary to r amove the 
glaed metal keyboard mask 
arxl the rubber membrane pad 
from the Spectrum. The flew 
keyboard mechanism is fitted 
in place and secured wrih 
screws. At ei 4 95 this must be 
the most cost eflective way to 
improve tiie standard 



Spectrum keyboard 
The ZX Micfofajr may not be 
to everybody s liking arKl 
many inthelndust^ believe 
the martcet has outgrown this 
t^>© erf a fair The show 
however does give a chance 
to the end user of asessiiig the 
entire software and 
peripherals market under one 
roof and many newty formed 
software houses or 
peripherals manufacturers 
^n get firsthand market 
eKperienc« wiihoui spending a 
fortune as with many other 
shows. 




I'M AFRAID OF NO 
GHOSTS. . . 

No doubt one of the main 
allracfions of Ihe Christmas 
holidays will be a visit to the 
cinema to see the new movie 
GhostbuslD/s - anc if it isn ( 
on your list, wnte it downl It 
opened on the 7th December 
al 200 cinemas, so there 
should be one near you. 
Gho^tbiJStors has become 
; one of the all time top greasers 
in Ihe Stales, where ithas 
even beaten Ihe whizz kid 
Stephen Sple^berg at the box 
office The film teifs the story 
of three off-beat 
parasychologisis an New York 
who are thrown out of the 
university where Ihey teach 
and so set up a lunatic 
business to fig hi paranormal 
occunrences which are 
plaguing the city The ghc^is 
come in all shapes, colours 
ands^zes Foflunaielyfor 
business Ihe city is suiiefifiga 
veritable p I ag u e of s I i my . 
food-gobbling greenies. but 
bigger and fowler things are 
on the wing. The film 

graiflit - Irwn iN C&4 tmiip . 




rf" W T 



iJllM* 



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170 CRASH Chnstmas Special 



culminates in a hysterical 
showdown wlti forces from 
anrther plane which Ihreaten 
tm very e^tistence ol the 
«rtd 

What makes Ghmfbu^ters 
a great tflm ^s the sense ot 
hufnourandthespectal 

But more unusually, this ls 
ti« first r^me that (he movie 
fm be^n preceeded by the 
opmputergame Actlvlaion 
tcquirectitieexclus^v^ 
worldwide rights lo develop 
and markei me game version 
dGiimtbiiSWrs from 
Cotymbia Pictures. David 
Crirtea*Prt*aW^(and//| 
msjDecaiMon fame, has tseen 
iB&ponskble for the design of 
tie game 

The computer game follows 
ftie siorv l^r^B of the film quite 
ciosety The obiecl *s to avert 
a ghost inva$k)n o* New York 

GlKBtbustef s survive long 
enough for the final dramatic 
Slowdown at Ihe Temple of 

Vcxi have all sorts of 
amazing and sophisticated 
gadgets to help your task like 
Im^e Intensiflers. Energy 
Detectors. MarshmaHow 
Sefjsor f The Marshmaltow 
man IS 1 00 fee? high) . Ghost 
Vacuum. Ghosl Traps and a 
Laser Confrnement System 
It S up 10 yo*j to search lor , 
catch and slof^ the slimaf s 
and roamers' through the 
sneeis and buildings of New 

QhoB tbu^ f ers for th© 4BK 
Sftedrum retails at £999 and 
eaiso available for the 
C8M64 





?\ 






DOI 
REVENGE 

SNghtty |at«r than expected, 
Bwofid Sortmirii'i totow r 
IOln«4rmclaciJter^ 
suowtsnji Lottis of Mi^mf\ 
lias }wi bMTk retesMd «i m 

t^ ©f writing: £3bomtfjif*rs 

!i^^angeiiatlavtehly 

^ Ktrianatmoet 

booctoits 

iior. Much too iate lol 

able to r^aw in this f9«M^ 
a copy haa bmn aished to 
Ctarak Bmimt. who m» be 
OMng his coriifTief«9 ndxi 
mom. MMfwhile, for t 
who havt not yel S8ert It , 
twe be arty), hare ts tti^e 
oorar to gaze upon. 

for £9 95 and is tor tfie 
^Sptctaim. 




Two fyrther adveotuTe games 
tuva b&mt taunctied byllW 
Kac^tbbon thscoiTiparty 
wit^ .lr»tch lh& 

^ogan. Both are on sate to: 
£7.95 each. A^bc - Hmt fot 
WiB Sua God te a mysiical and 
DOifijpi& game whidh 
chaMiiged ih^ Adventurer to 
interpnat a strange and 
fUtuibing dream Vou wemicter 
incognito tlhf migh a South 
Amertcan lanctebape of 
foraata, Qtiw «Kj votoor^ 

■■ttamt aod clu^ ak^ 
m^ The ncfvOTibifer's task is 
to make for an unpredictabfe 
irolcafiac mounCaln. tbare to 
Bontend nvitt the gods and Afid 
out whai has haijpened to his 
vfHage and so^ngaiy enough, 
lie sun, A^leo comro 
c pffjpte la with a luH-oDlouf 
poat0f and instrm^ofi booktei . 
loKingA 

King Arthur, Striving to free Ma 
eouMry fiom the rmkn of en 
Icy mtal. issued by ih# 
l»KJiBgori. Tti« dragon is 
nimlpiiiated by tba evil 
lAofpina La Fay , and the mitt 
balD^r t^vigiiig ttiaaiittra 
land to b (Ml m a lingering. 




i^iog Armur Kjve^ up iq rus 
reipytitkiii 1^ ha^dng tite way 
pairi diragciis. wit^ias and 
unicorns and skirtng over 
frozen t^ces- There are 
ffwglc bodtt to be 
twtMdh and dHVcirit ipiHa and 
aacrets to overOTine - aU in 
Ihe name of aaeking tiufts lo 
tti# locaiton of Lanoetol and 
Martin. Onca th9M two tiev« 
been found Arthur oan set 
about libera^ tha land from 
tna'swfrspelt.thya 

jlbaqueeiTbagama 

inctudai a fuiksolaiir poalar 
and delaKad in tiim^^on 

bookJel. 



CRASH Gtirlstmas SpedaJ 171 




INPUT 



KOKQTONI WALLY 



Waliy W&ek.siarpf 
Mikro-Gen s Autom&niBQLnd 
PyfamafBrna is ypsei by 
reports that he's been 
(Overtaken in ttie popular rty 
stakes by arch nval Kokotoni 
Wilf Elite Software has 
announced Ihal Kokatooi 
mmmiakBrt the htieor besi 
ev«r ntwenly re arcade game 
ifom SP s Jel SBt W^Mv But a 
defiant Waiiy Week awms 
Ihal Py/amarama' is better 
than either of th^ise two 
programs and he is wiliing \o 
go to the pol^ls io prove his 
point He has issued a direct 
challenge to Wilf by mvitrng 
CRASH readers Io sand m 
Jheir voles and determine wtK> 
really the public s favounte 



Yawn, that s if anyone is realty 
bothered 

Mean white, the eyer-adive 
Wally has rrKSved into the field 
Of motor -facing sponsorship, 
following his rise to computer 
fame Mlkf chQw Cir» are 
featufing WaHy as iheir fogo. 
so don t be surprised if you 
see him whi^zsng past at 100 
mph in the Grand Pnx at 
Bfand s Hatch thts month But 
Wally hasn t got it all hm own 
way I really wanted to dnve. 
ha laments Byl it was felt that 
for the hea^h and safety ol the 
other drivefS ! should only 
appear m a sponsorship and 
adveft^ing capaaty Never 
mind, pefhaps MikroGen will 
come up with a new game 
ieatunng Wally Week on 
wheels 






jnn«i3 Irorti frnim^ Wlllf yv«ei: ind m^ mki^Q^ nilllf Itwn ptef ir« lor IW^vfH 



FLYING GOLD 
FOR HEWSON 



Hewt4M Con«u Ita n ts have ^ 
rewarded the talents o< th^ir 
mto'ooQmputef writer Mike 
Male with a gdd cassette alter 
sales of his rwo programs 
toppNed the 1 00/000 mait;. 

Mfke, author of Heaff^row 
ATCBi^NightFm2. 
rtaeofved the award from 
Hewson's Managing Director 
Andrew Htwvon Mil<e is 
himself an air traffic oontrollef 
at London s Heathrow Airport, 
aa well as a keen amateur 
pUot. and n was this 
Wfpmimyo& which enabled htm 
to bring such a oonvindng 
element ol realism to his 

172 CRASH Christmas Special 



I lasK of re writing the game 
almost from sa^tch Ijefore it's 
avaiiat>le for distribution tn 

! Holland. 

In the Jufv issue of CRASH 
we reporteo th&i Faniasia 
Diamond had won the 



h^hly popular programs. It's 
Oibviouijy paid ofl too. for he 
has pM bought a flailye 
Tarnpico single engine light 
aircraft from the proceeds of 
his sales, which rrNakes a 
change from the ubiqurtoys 
Porsche that most software 
people seem to drive. 

A revised version of 
HBBffimwATC has been 
raleesed for the 48K Spectium 
fidluilng a Concorde larxfing 
route, enhanced graphics and 
help pages On the B side is a 
less demarxJing version of the 
game based on landing 
patlefiTO at Amsterdam's 
intemationat airport 

Kawson Conaufbinta' 
aiMurcNdnfiing adventu re 
^rfie Farrtesra Diamond is 
going Dutch. Author Topley is 
engaged in the oompi rated 



eeiee<r»ed Le prtx du Meillaur 
Scanarfo in France. H the 
garne takes off in the land of 
tuips and Edam there could 
be yet more acclaim awaitirq 
Kim Toptey (and yet more 
money lor Hewson's}. 



Antfftir Hrwf M |lifll mMBli praffiminit Mlh* MtlM mm\ H^i 
of im.QOO cc(tLH ^ hn iWvi ilr Inme pomrol ilmymMOAi 



^fi^^P •^^•^W^fl ''IP •^^'^H 




THE SOFT TOUCH 



Softitone Ltd are iDOlcing to 
add yel another boost to their 
up and coming reputation with 
ttie release of seve^ra] new 
games over Christmas and 
ihe New Year 

With offerings fike Turtle 
Ttmew&fp MdYssey i&ndFim 
Fighter urKl#f Th#ir belts 
(onginally marketed by 
Parfedlon Software). 
Sofistone have every reason 
to be confident . Th is 
London-based company, 
originally begun in WalM, only 
came into operation eailter 
this year, but already they 
tw/e progressed to become a 
OOntefider in the fieid of micro 
games creating and 
marketing, with growing 
operations both at home and 
abroad. 

Perfection Software wore 
one of the first companies to 
be taken urxJer the Softstone 
wing, and! since then the 
amalgamation has gone from 
sfrongth to strength. 

mm Christmas sees the 
TilaQse ol Super Barjdft and 
Word Seeker, while over the 
neM few months several new, 
more sophisticated games will 
be prepared for general 
release. These will irvduda a 
graphic adventure for the 
Commodore 64 and an arcade 
game based around a 
mudi-loved TV advertising 
sequence. 



PRESENTING THE 




in tf m^ for Christmas. 
Ineantive Software are 
cf sthbuting e presentaiion gNt 
set of the popular Kbi Trilogy 
adverrture dassic 

The Ket Triiogy is a fantasy 
adventure m which you have 
tolutnil the quest and liberate 
Ket from Vran arKl his evil 
followers The game gate 
harder the more stages you 
cxxnplete. Should you 
micceed in complettng the 
entire mission. Inoantive will 
latiel you Brttain's Best 
Adventurer as wet) as 
allowing you a vkioo recorder 
Of Vhek choice to the value of 
£400. 

The cost for the gift pack - 
oofitaining Th^ Moun fains at 
Ket, The fmnplQ of Vrm and 
The Firwl Mis$!ort is £ 1 2. 95, a 
cor^lderat^e saving on 
purchasing the games 
bdividuatly is^tu rally, th« only 
way to win is by sconrtg 1 00 
on each game, thus reveaHng 
Ihe mree parts of Ket s secrrf 
message. An explanatory 
booklet on hiow to ptay te 
induded with aach game. 



• • • • 





NEW FAST 
REPAIR SERVICE t 

Oompiiter after the guaraiMH 
hii eKf>tr«d can bo quite a^^ 
N y itche. That s ^ a ] 

oofnpany csUed Coin^^i^'f^^ 
of OwnMriiry, Surrey, has 
IteiPped if! to ease Wbny . 

Computar-flx h^ set up a 
txyialdafabia natworic of 5 00 
deaJam around the coyiiMH 
each of whmi rui ^i^ntaeftllll 
your cmipi : m mandra 

0id cm ihe go again wilt»in 48 
hours of rac^pt. 

Tha qutek f pre safvica is all 
dcwn to ACUMEN {Advanced 
CofiHKitar Mmnmy Tester K 
pMeh can spotlight 
intflunclians far quidcef than 
a skilled computer angin^ac * 
Ihua savk^ both »tma and 
mofiay, 

A spokaaman for 
Computaf-lht aaW ttim ha waa 
mfy pl0asod v^ :ay the 

rapaif ac*iemp ^^^ y hhq. h@ 
tha responsa as 
, " wjih handrads ol 
ars b^Nng brought in lor 
iafvidng daltf . 

Cofnpy t ar-fl x art ai 
AttMuny Park Estota, Frimley 
ftottf, Cambatlay, Surray 
GUI S 2PL Tatephona O: 
6G266 

CRASH will be put« 
Hat of IM main Computor- 
j^leis in 1110 noct issue. 



%K FOR BED." 

Good nawa lor ail you 
Zabada* tans oul ther a wno 
heva navar quite forgtven 
AurMid Baab for taking llagio i 
■MiiMKHit off tha ajf . C. R*' 

issued a compy tor 

oflhapQputar 

_ ^m I V prOQIwflnna 'w 

ff*eSpadrum48K. 

The Mbqic RoundaLir^y 
ratiMa at ^.93 and faabirM 
altwittyalfasTiiar 
BNirBCi^a that wa know Mid 
bva so wafl. Tha oaina 
ravotVBS around if^ altaiq||b 
ol Dougii to conatryd a i^H 
hoi»a,wMaihociriar ^^ 
<folhielrbaatto9;it 
cubes he 
thaoafiTa, mu m 
Nte, wpar aquaja anaigy. 6ut 
don't ii«iTy folks - nobody 
gate kifed In Itils ^me, and 
poanw Ihosa raassunng 
Mfda appear at tha and ; 





^han^acadc 
^^H|y(iar( 
M^Hw. In tti 



i 



• • • 



PROTOCOL 4s 
RECALLED 

A, G. F. Hardware hav© an 
imporlanl message for 
customers w^o may have 
purcha&ed a Protocol 4 
foy stick intarteca: someol 
these have sub specsft cation 
pre-production umte, which 
means that they have an 
erratic or unfaliabte K&m^pston 
operation mode 

tf yoy possess a copy ol the 
Protocol 4 Interlace the way to 
check its reliabiSrty is 10 type ^n 
the fd (owing program line with 
the intarlace attached to the 
Spectrum Make sura the 
mode swiidi is m the down 
petition and Ihat you have 
inseiled the Kempston' card 
Then pnni: IN 31 and press 
ENTER If anylhino other than 
B lapiimed, A. G F. will 
p©f»0fia% replace the unit 
free of charge The address 
for returns is: AG F 
Hardware. Freepost, Bog nor 
Regis. West Susseit P022 
9BY. 



BIG C. C. S. 

CHRISTMAS 

LAUNCH 



C. C. S. have raleased 
moltiar four games lor Itia 
Spactnim 4eK. AJr Defence ts 
awoipune in which the player 
tediM the rote of DjniTwider 
of Ajr Defences with 14 
squadrons ur^er his 
command. The aim Is fofervd 
off the successive waves of 
attac* from eneniy aircraft 
who attempt to demolish your 
industrias and HQ. But watc^ 
otrt: the eriafny have fighter 
escorts! 

Superpower Is a Strategy 
game f of 1 S ptayaia, eadn of 
mem Winning the affairs ol the 
fnteiiltgence Agency of a major 
worW power Pfayefs possess 
various assets in a 
nine-country Third World 
ooniineni, and must 
doubleHteal wWi each other In 
an attempt to Incroas^ theJr 
profris from these assets using 
that most ventabie of all 
weapons, poNtical 
interterenoa. The famlBar 
ingr^ients of warmongering, 
assassination and 
engineenng coups are a1 tt^ 
har>ds of eac^ player 

Barrowgyesf isan 
adventure game wrttlan by 



ifolifi Vhany bafofQ hac&fiia 
to tame wHh The Rnnce. The 
playef is in a large terrain 
Inhabrted by monsters vrfio 
insist on attacking him from all 
Sides without reprieve, Ttm 
only escape is when buntMM 
appear (marked with skulls). 
TTie player can enter these 
burrows, which form a maze of 
tunnels, also inhabited by 
monsters. The object of the 
game is to locate the power 
gem Sartrak a Stone' arid 
destroy the Black wizard 
GrimWaai. 

ThG Staff of Zarsr}ol is an 
adventure game where lh© 
player l:>ecomes the 
Soroeref^s apprantioa ajid 
releases an evN demon in Ns 
master's absence. Ttia etamofi 
has to be banished tiefore the 
master returns, and this can 
only be achieved by prop^y 
interpretatirig a aarm of 
clues Th^ are located in 45 
different locabons and each 
object has a spedtlc purpose. 
Mistakes c^n be fatal, so you'li 
rti&Qd to tread carefully, but 
there are times when speed is 
e&sentiaJ and you I! have to 
keep your wits about you 

All fcxjr games are on sale 
lor £5 95 each. 

C. C. S. have alao released 
a further two gamae In Iheir 
^Charlie Charlie Sugar' budget 
range for the Spectrum 48JC 

NukB Lear ia a high-speed 
arcade game tn which you 
have to ensure that Nuke' 
(manager of the Radioadive 
Waste Depository) directs the 
inooming drums of radioactrva 
waste into their allocated 
positions at the end of the biue 
roads Nuke can change the 
direction ol the rolJing drums 
by dlmblng to one oftia upper 
lloQfB and star>ding In the way, 
thus illegally petitioning the 
drum. If too many drums are 
HIeaalty positioned then the 
radioactivity accumulates and 
-BANG! 

fomb of Akhenatei} Is an 
arcade ad:i>on game where the 
player has to seardi the 
labyrinth of tunnels within a 
p^mid for Akhenaten's 
tomb The tomb was believed 
to be desecrated soon after 
his buna] . but according to the 
kx^i inhabitants rt s still trwad 
and just wailing to be 
discovered Spiders, 
potsonous asps and tha 'Spirit 
of the Labyrinth" conspire to 
malce your search a less than 
pleasant one 

Both games are available 
for £2 .99 each. 



PLUS HITS THE 
SHOPS 

The new Spectrum -^ has 
afrived on the shelves of T. B, 
D, Computars. the secofxJ 
only offidat disinbuiorsof 
Sinctor software and 
haifdware m itie country, 

T B. D. is part ot one of tha 
biggest and b^ record, 
cassette and video disthbutors 
Terryfilood OLstrlbulioii 
Ltd The Stoke-on-Treni 
Imsed company is ready and 
waiting to deliver the 
Spectrum - anywhere in 
Britain within 24 hours. Wa 
are ready to go I commenlsT. 
B. D. s Sales and Marketing 
Director Joe Woods 
enthusiastically. 

The Spectrum * (with 48K 
RAM) accommodates all the 
ueual SpKtrum sof^are and 
paripherals and featu res tt^ 
nJllfunct^on OLtypa' 
keyboard. Like tha 40K it 
comes complale witti a fret 
sotlvmre six-padc. 



PREPARE TO 
DIVE! 

Magasub Command is the 
latest release from N. T. D_ 
Software, on sale for just 
£2.99. This is the new^ in a 
iafles ol popular games for 
tt^e Spectrum . arxl features 
over 300 levels ol machine 
cxde action. 

The playef mmmm the 
ro(e o^ the captain ot the 
world s most advarvced 
submarine - the Megasub - 
and the nerve- wracking object 
is to tend oif attacks on the 
North Atlantic f roritiers Isy 
enemy fighters and bombers. 
The submanne is equipped 
with the latest Neutron laser, 
but it's one of the hazards of 
the game thiat (like its deep 
space counterparts) the laser 
te prone to ovefheating. and it 
requires a cod and 
tevel-headed captain to put 
matters right. (Thais where 
you come in!) Of course, if yow 
can't stand The heat and the 
gocng gets too tough you can 
always crash -dive - provided 
there's suffipent air supply. 

Megasub Commaf?d can be 
ptayed via the keyboard or on 
any Kempston compatible 
io^tidk. 




CRASH Christmas Special 173 




WIN A COPY OF THIS EXCITING NEW 
3D SOCCER SIMULATION!! 



50 
LUCKY 

READERS 

CAN 
WlNM 




■^ f'Vjiiiaisui 



No need to worry If your 
home team's pitch is watert- 
ogged or frozen over this 
winter - OCEAN have brou- 
ght out MATCH DAY (retail 
price £7.95), a 3D soccer 
simutation arcade game that 
you can play in the comfort 
of your own home. 

MATCH DAY features anima- 
ted players, a marked out 
soccer pitch and bouncing 
ball. The camera scans the 
action from a bird's-eye- 
view, so you have no trouble 
positioning your team. The 
game can be played versus 
the computer, or as a knock- 
out competition for up to 
eight players, each with his 
or her own team. All the skills 
of dribbling, tackling, pass- 
ing, heading and trapping 
can be performed, and the 
fixture can be either a single 
match or a lengthy cup com- 
petition. Extra-time facilities 
are available should a match 
end up in a draw. The acco- 
mpanying music is from the 
BBC TV programme 'Match 
of the Day'. 



CRASH is offering 50 copies 
of Match Day to the first 50 
people drawn from the bag, 
who correctly answer the follo- 
wing questions about soccer. 
Your answers should be written 
down on a postcard (or tlie 
back of a seated envelope) and 
sent to: MATCH DAY COMP- 
ETITION. CRASH MAGAZ- 
INE, PO BOX 10, LUDLOW, 
SHROPSHIRE SY8 1 DB to arr- 
ive no later than first post Jan- 
uary 181 985, and please don't 
forget to include your name and 
address on a postcard! 



MATCH DAY COMPETITION 

1. Which PootbalJ League club 
pr>y9 at Elland Road? 

2. What is Ihe name of the con- 
troversial ex-manager of 
Manchester United? 

3. Who presents Match of th« 
Day' on BBC1 ? 

4. Birmingham Is the home gl 
Birmingham City FC, But which 
other midland club also has Hi. 
home in the second city? 

5. Can you name the manager 
Liverpool before Fag an? 



ififisgu 



m CRASH Christmas Special 




• I 



BEST YET! 



V^l^^tt 48K Spectrum 7.96 CBM64 8.9S 

19 HIRES SCREENS FOR YOU TO ROAM AROUND IN JACKS MAD 1 fOUSE 














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miCRO DEALER m Ud 



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makro 




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USUAL KUTW All OinUTS. 



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fVyflTi Bulldog 

EHSflDtlTDttt AWD OWmiAl II*QM1«^ COWTACt tAlTL «»t-Wi «ilWl 






W*iiiB«iJn U lAF M: *ll W itn-l 




♦ ^ : 






SMERLOClBethimrtds 
greatest sleuth 

'Afflizinilty drta^M No SpfCttum 
Mmr will want to te wfilxkut 
Slltrlxh.' Mi^MMiri^ 
*l«iUier wjniwf in The HobM 

'M ai^ty can you talki to other 
cha^c^er; but ^m 03^ a^^ 
intermgate tlicm. Even dtscuss the 

Case. ' SiClM USER 

J, *A toTFR way ahead of ttie rest of the 




MHOBIIT. Visit Jfi.R. 

Tolkken's Middle Earth. 

This prngrim ii pure ex^llnioe.' 

Vefy kHTg and tortaity absortmg - 

acl3&$ic.'w«i 

You ma^ fiw diiamries «tcfi 

t»iT>e ^u play it/ WQememm 

'A itipef b advent y re - yoo witi Ih 

ciptivated, d^tecl, fm^rated hul 

new bored; sofTMKnmtf 



iijitt 



HAMPSTEAD is an advent un^ 

gaw for would-be social climbers. 
"Vary funny wjtit a pke of some 
ifescnplioii ray nd aiery corner/ 

IMEDlIT 

'One of the best adventures I have 
piQfed.Kiainyst.Stipef; 

HOME 'COiVIIKi iS&f 

'An HKcellentatample of a new typ« 
of gimt, H is a o^cefrt/ 



MffiSf gives a totally new 
diredion fof f hrill seekers. 
A graphically stynning game.' 

Itours aii spent ]4i^ eawking it 
theeu^lient graphic/ tvw 
Mugsy is def mite^ the Godfither 
of al9 strategy gan:^/ 



T1icuset>fe«lf3Vigairtl)f 
marvelloys giaphic^ turns the 
game into a minof masterpiece, A 
pliasijrftti ptay. snouyRisat 



>*3 




JiatlHume Himst Ad¥efTture Gime$ Or^n ta: 

n SpeclrvmSMldilM £!4 9S 

D Spectrum mi l«W4« ,,.... ...,£1495 

Q Spectrum H«npste*d 4m .... ,...£99S CdCmpwrfefice: 

O SpKliiMll«$v4«t eSJS 

O Speebwneii&ikMventufilSK ..£G,W 



NWbouipeHmjtfPuNishefi. 

Abin|d«i.0iwiOXI4 4TD 
IMboumf House F^lbtl$4lefs, 
Gidaleni House. CasUeTifd, 
fN^flmdlWlOBIF 







woyr 24^l»ur »eiSAliiie t07IS| 13 Ml 




I encJose mjf eheqiie/meney md er tot E 
Please debit my Access Ca rd ffe 

Sjgnatufe 
Name 



ByiylUi 



t +tfp JO 



Torn 



Acktnn 



MpriBHJisMiMr 

PIMM 4M«|»te put MM^ 

Tmdi tnquifiii 



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r^mp 



Skooldaztt 

the game thit 

haa everything - 

#xckte merit, cframa, 

domedy, tragedy^ 

catapyitft . . . Jdln ot 

hero on a madcap r^ 

with your favourite 

characters -* the wicked 

headmaster, the nutty professor, 

the ancient history master |the 

htstory's quite old, too!) and, not 

forgetting the swot and the school 

bully. 

Speech bubbles, amazing 

animation, great graptiics. 



Skyranger- 

patrol the ilt 
between thi 
skyscrapers and 
make ttie city a safi^ 
place to live. 3D likt 
you've never seer 
iforOp showing whati 
ictrum Is really capabk 
of with the rig 1^ 
programmer 

C5.9S 



Wheelitl 

In February the CRASH magazine revlewtrr 
thought this was one of the most addicUvi 
/ games ever, At a rough guess I'd say they wsfi 

addicted to this gamt 

£SJ5 



All for the 48K Spectrum- 

Available from all good computer shops. 

or direct from: MICROSPHERE COMPUTER SERVICES LTD, 

72 Rosebery Road, London N10 2LA 




ar.trs«a--> TTHEi 

=Bt.-*^..== -TERMINAL MAN 





I 



CRASH Christmas Spedal 179 



STORY BY KELVIN GOSNELLo 



DRAWN BY OLIVER FREY© 



180 CRASH Chrislmas Special 





CRASH Ctiristrnas Special 181 



iNTtNTtON OP HON 
OURIN& OUR tflR^RlM; 
VLfeflRRE, Vou MflV 

PEOPLE WVTW VDU,aUT, 
SteDfeLlVKR. 




BUT ^UR , 

S«(tflE SUPERSTlTKXiS 




Continued on page 191 



182 CRASH Christmas Special 



EXPLORING THE SENSE OF SOUND! 



\ 




3 Channel 
Sound 

Synthesizer 

Any microcomputer is 

capable of manufacturing 

stiund, however in order to 

produce a single octave 'C* 

note with a frequency of 8372 

Hz the signal needs attention 

over 16,000 times per 

second. 

To produce software capable of performing jusi ihh one lask would be dtflkult it not intpossiblc, ej^pct'ially 

when you consider that to produce arcade type !»ound effects require even gietiter atieniion. 

The production of these sounds effects without the constant attention of the pux:essor is now poi^siblc thanks 

to the AY Sound Chip, its flexibility makes it essential for a wide range of applications including music synthesis 

and sound effects generation, continuing Ihc monitoring and produvtuni uf >iOund after the initial ciximiand. 

More of^en than not realistic sound^i require niore than one effect and this tuncuon is provitkd by 3 uKk-pcndenily 

controlled channels, as aji example, compare the sound pnxiuced by the smglc ni>te ot C. with thai produced 

by the chord 'C and you wilt know just what I mean, likewise producing the sound uf an explosion using 

'd\\ 3 channels gives games a totally new dimension. 

Add to this the ability to alter the pitch tone and shape of the sound you have produced md Us (lexibiliiy 

is unlimited. In simple terms, imagine the note you have produced as a calm sea, by aliering the pitch and 

shape you can prixJuce waves, the lop of the wave corresponds with the nidxiniuiii volume and pilch of the 

note, which like the wave itself rises and falls. 

Free Music Designer Cassette worth £9.95 

Beethoven to Bowie ~ Starwars to St>lats. 

The screen display shouvs all Tuncttons. Simply move the cursor alini^ Iht kvyboardi sdurt the d^ired nutt: 
by pressing the fire button and the note selected then appears on the screen. 

You can vary the tempo/volume and when Splayed' the notes simultaneously iicroit across the screen. 10 Envelope 

controls mean that once created, tunes and sounds can be subtley alit:'ix-J given varying attack ctnd decay limes 

to create futurisiic music and ^und effects. You can record and save up tt) ihree diffeieni tunes di\d amend each 

one as necessary. The dk*tronics Sound Synthesizer is suitable for both Spectrum and Spccttuni -¥ iikkIcIs and 

is guaranteed to give you hours of fun and would make an ideal Christmas giti, you never know you might turn 

to be another Stcvie Wonder. 

A THROUGH CONNECTOR ON THE REAR OF THE 

INTERFACE ALLOWS YOU TO PLUG IN OTHER 

PHRIPHERALS LIKE THEIR CENTRONICS & 

JOYSTICK INTERFACES. 

ALL FUTURE SOFTWARE RELEASES STARTING 

WITH 'POPEYE' WILL EXPLOIT THE FULL 

POTENTIAL OF THIS NEW PRODUCT. 



At only £29.95 it comes complete with FREE music 
designer cassette worth £9.95 and represents remarkable 
value for money. 

Available from department stores and good computer shops 
everywhere or direct from 

dk'tronks. SafTron Walden, Essex CRlt 3AQ. ICM 
Tel. (0799) 26350. Add £1.25 post and paeking. 



miuiuiiuiiiuiuiiiiiimiuii 



YOUR PLANET NEEDS YOU! 



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Subscribing to 




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^ 




LOONY 
LANDER 

Producer Software Super 

Sav»r« 

Memoiy required: 48K 

Retail price; t2.99 

Language: machine code 

AuthcM^: NtchQias Williams 

ARotertMaynard 



Loony LandBf Is a trte that 
describes the gam^ type quite 
weil - irxtoed a Lunar Lander' 
game. What makes this one 
dinerefit 1$ that eacti screen is 
difterent graphical [y and has 
dfftarent hazards f of the sh uttie 
craft 10 descend through. Ele- 
i^en screens rn all. each with a 
different litle On frre firsl- The 
Research station, layers ol 
doudaba the route down to the 
tandng pa6 Than thare^ the 
Subway, with tube trains cr oss^ 
ing trom hinneis, The Oasia. 
Underwater Scenario, Pari*. 
Arcade Machine. Cassandra 
Oroising, Hell The Wonn'a 
Hide Out. Pacman's Revenge 
and the Cioning factory - all 
make ai^ appearance^ 
In evefy other reaped, the 
game plays quite tradrtionaify, 
with you guiding the shuttfo 
down through the transverse 
hazards to i and softly on a pad. 

CRmCISM 

• This ^ the hardest Lander' 
type game I have ever played. 



Ttie ship has so much Inertia' I 
(hat control is really dittjcull A 
chaflange up to a point, but IMa 
one goes a bit beyond Itm 
poknl Genefally this game It 
average, but if you are a 'Len- 
der' expert then try it I' 

• The thing tfiar mak^s ffim 
game fait is that you cannot 
mspona qwckty $nough to th^ 
directing mstructfons Imsum 
that with hours ot practice one 
coutd, pehaps, become quit^ 
good The only sound iS an 
Bpofog&ric bufp when you ife^ 
Cohurs am bright and chaer- 
tut The keys don't respond 
mry watt, though, and this 
mak&s ^fljgflfion aimost impo- 
ssible. 



• This game li OfW of the 
cheapies on me rrwfcet produ- 
ced by SSS (really Softwafe 
Projectsl, but being cheap . 
won't be able to sell it because | 
the game is of exfremely Sow 
quality. WHATS SURPRIS- 
ING (and rat^^ef sad) is that the 
araphics in this (and some of 
the other S3S games) art dae- 
ignedtoahigh«tendardp wua- 
IIV smooth and quKe f &dt witti 
plenty ofdetail But the reS 
xoWem seems to me to b© the 
ack of ptay ability it's as tho- 
ugh the games haven t been 
really thught through property. 
In the case of Loony Lander, tt 
Is almost impossible to get thr- 
ough the hazarcte - nice, there* 
fofe. to have a demo of the scr- 
eens ~ at least you get your 
moneys worth tJwf e, " 

COMMENTS 

Control keys: 1/2 aoQelerate 
up/diown. 2ld hover 
veticallymortrontally. 3/0 
accelerate ieft/rlght 
Joysticks none 





Keyboard play: total^ 

unresponsive, although we^l 

laid out - too many keys 

thoti^h. 

Use of colour: above 

average to good 

Graphics; smooth, small but 

effective and varied 

Sound: poor 

Skill keveto: 1 

Lives; 5 

Screens: 11 

General ratlngi waste of 



money in the opinkan of two 
lev^ef s and bekw average 
from the third. 

Use or computer 40% 

Graphics 48% 

Playabllity 34% 

Getting started 56% 

Addictive qualltkia 20% 

Va I ue to r m ney 32% 

Overall 38% 



TAPE COPIER 6 



MtCRODRIVE 1 

,i]iu^diiE.W4ilri^rivclrifts-fEfl 






^',^iaA 4&K Bpmsk^Mti diifJi^km your <M oofW 



1^ OMitw#iiMttoBdififtcQnvwlift»m*&f* Qrf^ 

# UHDS <n pfogram psto CONtlMUCHIIlT - Wtmt\ CtiAfsft fioiound 
jip. >^^Q€i toffi IttdOT, Mto hmdlm. «<c. makinfl ttttprocfi 
ikqplt «nd Qlffictivff. Uw Frteivfy, 

# Cop«tw4^v iongprogmrnttHy 66000 « ^yM) 

^ Bift taunt H wnpiiihwdgrii^tftm. ppuw, ilt*»*t. abort. 
cop«4iOepiM.nJLL mmaal 

# fyl/tMM - im mm option iEMUiNEir «$m USIC. H a«t i 
mrw^ onto MPIOClfllVf . item pf dgrt^ mmM, flic 

^ Upt3tiMlioraldcuiUimflft£3iC3.^Mitt)M/Dr^ 

TCI tsjo mm mmm w^m mm 



MICRODRIVE ONE (MOD 



ptfugit'^4 Cvic N^BuifiHi^ iQffQi i^n^HTW ■ ifin# wiri UQH ■DdfVHVfli SflSP 



Tin ffMfiaii Ni mtMw in woflw and wft t 
uiiit«)niijt#h^drt¥« tryi«ftdti*l(iiri^Qyniif 



Wi IWII »w iiK if WMriN fwnl Mb 1 Pill If n 
liiXffWOUCK OtftUr DUB nowETMmamiwiTtt 



LEflM. otn an. 

10 BRUNSWICK GDNS COF^SV. NORTKANTS 



CRASH Christmas SpecisI 185 



^ia\^ 




COUNTRY 
COTTAGES 

Producer: Sterling 
Software 

Memory required; 4BK 
Retail price: £5.95 
Language: 
Author: Brian James 



Thb m a charming strategiy 
garrt© for two playem which 
Brings a whiff of t^>e ooun- 
Irreids to your screen. The 
OD|dCt is to buy countfy cot- 
tages on a bank ovenjraft anti 
mskB money from them by 
renting them out to a siream ot 
oddbraehftradera 

Each pteyer starts oti with a/^ 
overdraft facility of EiOO. 000, 
and each playec takes it in turn, 
with a tum repfesenting a 
morrth- Tha screen dispay 
shows youf b&nk t^lance, 
value of assets, increase in 




as&ets (as land prices rise) and 
interest owed to the bank, it 
also shows what propertlM (i' 
any) the playei^ own. what 
lennants are in and what they 
are paying in rent. 

With BSidt^ tym a player may 
opt to have a look at offered 
properties, adveftise lor a 
taf^nant, raise the rerrt or sell 
an amply properly. Opting to 
look at something, the screen 
outs to a rapidly drawn graphic 
of the cottage in question. 
There are several types in a 
wide price range. II the player 




WORLD 
GLOBE 

Producer : Eclipse 

Software 

Memory required: 4BK 

Retail pnce: £7.45 

Language: maohitie code 

Author: J. M. Walghlman 



A tew Idsues back we reviewed 
Space Aft by Edipse 

186 CRASH Christmas Special 



Software, and reMivad a 
numtier of enquiries about it. 
This new progrann uses hires 
graphics to draw a 30 image of 
the world giob© as seen from 
outer space. 

Rotation may be in any 
direction east' west or north/ 
south usmg the cursor keys in 
incremental slops of 1 degree 
(alow). 1 5 degrees (Normal) or 
45 degrees (Fast), The so^&en 
display shows the cunrent 
tetitude and longitude of the 
centre of the gtobe which is 
)nd lilted by a lashing yellow 
best, the direction and $peed of 
rotation and t^ie starting point 



can afford it. it goes to auction 
and there is a scramble bet- 
ween the players to secure it, 
with the st4^s gotr>g up in E200 
l>etween bids. Once a oottage 
is owned, it may be advertiaed, 
with the rent wanted l>eing 
input. If the asking price m not 
too steep a tennant may arrive p 
usuatly with some other 
impedimenta like nronkeys or 
cats Durir>g a turn the rent may 
be raised or lowered, althougn 
putting it up too often or too 
much may well resutt in the 
tennant pushir^ off in disgu^. 



The program may be used in 
(wo ways by go^ng through the 
Pick option to choose a start 
point etther by latitiKte and 
longHude references, or tiy 
choosing tf^a features list 
which then displays four 
optifxis - Cities, Coun^^, 
Islands or Features. These 
four pages contain 240 
locattons Choosing a location 
wifl result in the Hashing cursor 
square being placed centmjiy 
on the chosen location, sucti 
as a country or an isiand. or on 
the discharge point of a rivw. 
The inlay i::afd oontains a prini 
out of tne page® with all the 
k>catEdns listed together with 
their reference points^ 

CRfnCISM 

• rttorfd G/oipe should make 
an intere^ir>g program in con- 
nection with school g^)graphy 
work. The liires drawjngs are 
o1 necesslhf A Itta €^ the cn^Je 
side, but mey do reflect the 
shapes of the countries w^L 
and show the 3D 
foreshortening effect as cxmv 
tinents disappear over the 
planet S nm quite wdl. Eadi 
rotatkxiaf scan is redrawn, 
which lends a flidcery aisped to 
it. and it would have been 
much nicer to have a con- 
tJr>uoys, smooth animation, bi/t 
probab4y too expensive on 
memory wtth ail the continuous 
tine catculalions ba^ dona^ 



If a property is sold, the player 
redevK its original asking 
price plus the apprecialion fte* 
tor per month of ownefsJiip. 

Aftera years play, if a 
player's hank tialance is satis- i 
factory p the bank manager may 
inaease the overdraft facility 
to E200, 000 and so on The 
winner is the fifSt playef whose 
total assets first reach the 
pre-set target figure for a short 
or (ong game. 

cnmcisM 

• 'It seems quite a while 
since we have had: one of 
these property buytng/sel^ 
strategy games in lo feviow. 
Instructions seemed to make 
Ihe same quite complex, and 
involviiio to piay. sometning 
which I Ilea. InrtialJy the game 
was playable, and choosing 
beautiful cottages seemed to 
be quite a task within a El 00, 

000 budget, grven by my kind 
t^ank ETYanager (mean, isn't 
he)? With my EIOO. 000 I was 
able to buy two oountry cot- 
tages in reasonable oondilioin. 
My next task was to find tern 
narrts to occupy them - 
couidnl be easier, put an 
advert up in the local paper and 
suddenly two tenrwita came 
forward. What do t do now? 
Well, nothing really, just slowiy 
increase ti^e rent, and wait - 
yawn, boring. Ahf My kind 
manager has now given me 
£200, 000! Instantly I sprang 
bac^ to l^fe from the darkest 
depths of sleep and boug ht two 
more cottages, found ten- 
nantSp sat and waited. Is life 
really so easy and uncom- 
plic^ed in tf>e buying^ renting 
and selling marKel as tt^is 
0ame portays? I've heard 
about making games uncom- 
plicated and easy to play, txit 
Sterling Software have seen^ 
tfKjIy gone over the top and 
tottly ^K>iled the ptayaMly of 
Ifito one. I don't reaMy' Ihifft 
there's enough to keep any- 
body interested for any amour* 

01 time. arKJ beshdes. being a 
two player game is already a 
major drawback. Lack ol 
achh^ament and encour- 
agement ratfy does stop me 
from taing people to go out 
and byy mm game. ' 

• The nicest thing aboc/i 
Countiy Colbiges tsttie graph 
ics of tf?e ftefef^ res^de^ces 
chamseyves. from mean, 
brok^j down hoveiB to four- 
wfitiow fak0&id^ bungafows, 
(ftey are aW nea^ and €Oh 
ouffylty drawn Tine random 
eliNnmrts which m&ke u0 th$ 
names md charactem ot fta 
rannafs who cofna to viaw 




m 



them are ateo at work of^ the 
tx^&ges. because although 
Ihepme aiw^y^ metch^ me 
condftfon and appearance, 
the fine pnnt often give& rise to 
mitd hy&tena and the fB^ing 
that an accompiished estate 
$gee^ wrote it. Who. after ati, 
wQtM put burgfar proof locks 
en a oottage so run down the 
dugto'COi/W cJimb through the 
ticm in the wafhf? in tact the 
huifXHir and the graphics are 
ibDuf it, becat^a otherwise 
Coyntry Ck3ttdgee m ratfier 
AnlM in content and action, 
mrenwm two players, i get the 
feel^ that there's a much bet- 
ter game to &>me from Stertin g 
along tt^ese itnes and using 
(mre in such games} th^e 
mefygrBphics. ' 



COMMENTS 

Control km^i 6 keys for input 

with or\e for eac^ player at 

audiontlme 

Joyitick: N/A 

Keyboard playr input routine 

uBm ENTER €^ Y and is vary 

fast 

Uaa 0f coiou n very good on 

the cottages> sensible on the 

batance sheets 

QraptiJca: ax(::el(eni, and 

drawn very qMickly 

Soyrid! usaduiligllily 

SWll tevela: 9, ineroasiing 

teiardstp properly 

Uvea: N/A 

Smemm: random landscape 

creation 

Speclit faotu raa ' 

General latlnq : (Jetighif ul to 

watch, but lacking in content. 



Use of computer 


72% 


Gmphtcs 


79% 


Ptayabllfty 


64% 


Getting start«d 


70% 


Addictive qualities 


38% 


Value for money 


46% 


Ovmai 


62% 



Steve Davis 
Snooker 

Producer: C, D, S, 
Mecnory required : 4eK 
Retail pn(^: £6.95 
Language: macliine code 
Authof : Mtke Lamb 



aJSMkroSysmns ! 




On the Inlay card C. D. 3. say 
that aftef the su<^^^ss gf thetr 
Pool, they have spent oon- 
s«d@rabie time and money in 
nMMfching and deviioping 
ffw ultimate suocessoc - and 
Uiis is It ^ approved by the great 
man hini$e(f. They also add 
that they genuinely believe that 
tt>etr tme to the ball rriovement 
te unmalchable. 
Steye Devis Snooker (a 
certainty a user-friendly prog- 
ram Settifiq up shots and 
eKecuUng mem has been 
made as fast and simpte as 
ponUe, whilst still aJ lowing, a 

?reat iophislt cation m shot, 
he l^te si2© on so^een is 
quite larpe. wtth the periphefaJ 
information kept lo a minimum. 
Above the tabte, there are: 
POiTits sooiadg fouls, and table 
vmits. Below you will see a bar 
oode for strerigih €l shot, t>reak 
aoore. spin required and odour 
required. In order of tefcing a 
shot, the ojrsor ts mo^ed to the 
ball at wiudti tf)e oua ball will be 
aimed. H you have just 
pocketed a red ttien nothing 
will hapf>en unif you h«M 
selected a qdour by its score 
vatue. Once the cursor has 



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Uoby* •computer- -gomda 



PROGRAMS 
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1^99 1*99 1-99 



ANNOUNCE THOR VERY OWN POCKET MONEY RANGE 

MORE FUN AT LESS PRICE .. „. 

*4R4|i 

CUIOO~H Mm^""*""^ "^"x^. 




&'"« '•?t«HA' 




are obtainsbl* direct 
from IhiB c^ompanv at d-ao + 50p, p+p 
or from cwrtfwter ^ vMeo shope or 
whan you ae# the Slush Puppy oKpi, 
mAM for full Drt. D«ol«r ofiqulrlee wvloome 

DCFT n ■ui«Y coMnrrtii oaivei chquwayb HOufti lurrcfiMifitH woao mlmy iitcfittn 




ILAfY 



caw^ffati» 



Is avaltabla from 

W'H-SfvilthH WleiijEle* 
and other ma|er«lonm 

at C5^50 



4 




CRASH Christmas Spectal ^7 



POINT 

rour ^ 



PRC«K 



SPIN 



been satisfactorily pMrtione<! 
ind eniered, the directionaJ 
keys may be used to select the 
strangth of shot. Once thef has 
bMii enters, the keys are 
igain used to position a cursor 
on a large white ball below the 
mnm i - the point at which the 
cue will hFt the cue ball and 
cause any spin. Entering this, 
also takes the shot 
The game is accessed via a 
large menu which allows for 
one or twQiilayer gam8s> k^vig 
or short gaira. cursormifMJ on 
Of off, Currah Speech on or off . 
Nonndl snooker n^les apply, 
wHh the odours bei r^g pcrtted m 
eon-ed order after refT>oving 
thB taet red from the table. 

CRITICISM 

• 'Siei^e Daws Snoo*0f is. as 
far as features go. probably the 
best snooker game abotrt. Its 
also very ptayabte with speed 
and spin easily contrdied My 
only critleiem is that the col- 
oured balte do not stand out too 
weit Overall, an excellent 
adaption of the popular game, 
and a worthy sequel to t^ C. 
D. S. Pool ' 

• 'Wf?ere dom StBve Davis 
come into this game? Did he 
program it? I must say fhai the 
game seems to be irery 
rmifstic in ihB way that baits 
react Some qmte tncky shots 
€tm be piByBCf, orily because if 
iB FBaiistic. Tha bails are ot a 
niQB SfiB, so that flhef# isn't too 
mucf^ confusion: they e^so 
move propoftionai&ty fast 
Posiboning of the cufSor ss 
easy and qmck. often a fei 
down in these type of games. 
to it fm.you ma^ BSk? WbH it 
wis tm If yot/Ve into snooi(er 
Saykig this ti^ough, l found the 
gmne enpyable to pMv and t 
don't hke snooker at a/f. if yQu 
want a snookar game, than t 
caff racommend this version - 
a wait planned game^ ' 

B To^ from CDS- was. in 
my opinion, the best version 

188 CRASH Christmas Spedal 



GRKEN UrtNTTCO 



made for the Spectrum Sreve 
Davis Snooker ts a great follow 
lip aiKl the very best snooker 
Simulation you can get The 
Jnlay card'^ little boast is well 
justified. Hard work has gone 
mto refining the process of 
setting up snois and the result 
is a joy to use. They have 
repeat^ rh«! air rakl' mm 
sound with cursor movemeiit 
timt was used on Poof, which Is 
useful it a brt alarmii^ {!}, but It 
can be turned off rf it aets you 
down. > also tike tfie Tad that 
the oirsor doesn't rnove 
around the edge of the table, 
but all over it, which makM for 
very accurate positioning. The 
gante plays realisticaily. and is 
generally great fun. ' 



COMMENTS 

Control keya: Q/A up/down, 

O/Plefl/righl and ENTER 

Joyatlck: Kempston, Sinclair 

2.AGF.Protek 

Keyboard play t very 

responsive, simple to use 

Uae of colour: on the whde. 

very good, but yellow and 

^een balls are a bit dubious 

Graph ica: excellent tsaJl 

movement, generally dean 

and bright 

Soufid: useful 

SIctll levete: deperxte on 

opponent! 

Lfve«:NyA 

Seraana: 1 

Special taaturaa: Cunah 

compatible 

General rating: a very good, 

user-frierKl3y simulation, whicJi 

(p0S8tt>ly tor the first time) 

really calls on skill 



81% 



73* 



fO 



Use of computer 

Graphics 

Playabltlty 73% 

Getting started eo% 

Addictive quaittiet 73% 

Value tor money 00% 

Overall 77% 



wjg^ 



sli^ 




MAGIC ROUNDABOUT 



PnxJucer: a R. L 
Memory required: 4flK 
Retail prica: £5.95 
Lar>guage: machtne code 



There was a time when Serge 
Oanots Magic Roundabout' 
was almost compulsOTy 
viewing on BBC in the late 
afternoon The simple stori» 
told in that qui^ mailer ot fact 
voioe fust wodw). Wth i^>m- 
puter game versions of telly 
series all the rage at the 
moment, rt comes as no 
surprise to see Magic 
Roundabout appearing me 
title screen contains all me well 
known figures from the series 
like Brian the snail, Mr. 
McHenry, 8asil, Ftarence, 



Zebedee and d course Vh% 
hero of the pieoe, Dowal. 
The obied is to gydo Doii0al in 
ma taak of buil Jfig a hoi^ of 
•ugirad^tes before it's time for 
bed. liio augar cubes dot the 
landecapd, but the house must 
bft bu*n by pushing the cubea 
to the megic toadstool Sugar 
also fonm his diet (dentists 
take notefjp and to keep his 
energy from falling too low, he 
must continually top it up with a 
lump. 

The screen only shows a small 
part of the total playing area. 




and scrolls to keep Dougri In 
the midde^ Apart from ^'og^ 
tumps, there are the familiar 
red trees, and o* course 
Dougal's other friends from the 
enchanted garden ff he 
bumps into any of his friends, 
however, he loses a life, arid 
after three, rt's time lor bed, 



CRmCISM 

• Thiisisasimplecclledand 
avoid the nasties game (yes, 
Fksfence, Brian and even oW 



Zebe<tee are in the category of 
nasties}! The gama m simple m 
layout, tfie graphics i/e 
nothing spedal. but young 
tltoundabQut fars will like 
them. Magic ftounaaboui 
shoukj be in Itte 1 ts and under 
category. 

• 'How long was tt since I'd 
test sam ifiese chafaaars t 
asked mysett? It's nice to hear 
sOxHit tftem again The task m 
fairly simple in this gam^ -just 
build a house from sugar 
lumps at the toadstoc^. 



1 



Sounds BBsy enough, (itmsn't 
if? W^l i seaf^ed and 
SMfcfted anrf could t find thB 
tOBdstooi befor& (and i^d/y 
quickly} all UtrBe tiv&s had 
gone? M gmphfcs are targe 
md cohuffut, with the 
charactBfisUc r&d trass 
pf&ntBd around, and all the 
gf&atnam3$ tike Bnon, Dytan, 
^mintruda, Zebede& and 
Fhrence, who flaot effortiossfy 
around tf)0 screen Soufid - 
welt me Magic Roundabout 
theme is tfiere, atmough a tmia 
broken up. Quite a chitd's 
game, t ^f joyed ft, but stitt onfy 
M avmaga game. ' 

• The graphics are nJce 
enough, bu! the ga.me falls to 
racalk ihe real atmo^hefe of 
the TV series Magic 
ftoimdabout is obviously 
iiitonded to appeal to chitdren. 
and no doubl it will, although I 
think there Isn't enough 
placability in the game. 
Ch4dfen who tise computers 
art WMikably sophisticated 
In the? r n<eed& when it comes to 
mtef active games. I aJso found 
ttie inlay instrndions mis- 
leading , because I failed to rind 
a tc^cstod or a train any^ 



wtrwere - a diild might give up 
more quickly. ' 

COMMENTS 

Control keys: A.Z up/down. 

Pi M leil; nght, SPACE barit-eat 

sugaf 

Joyalfck: Kempston. AGFh 

Pfoiek 

Keytsowd! play: responsive, 

wef I lakl oin. but positjoning 

Dougal can be fu^y 

Use of colour: reasonabf e 

Graphics: average, but 

char aderi Stic of the original 

Sound: vmy little, poor 

attemp! at tune 

Shilt levels: 1 

Lives: 3 

ScrMfig: scrolling 

QmiefttI rating: may prove 

popular with young children, 

lacks content for older people. 



Use of computer 58% 

Graphics 57% 

Playabiltty S2% 

Getting started 54% 

Addictive qualities 36% 

Va I u e for m oney 4 5% 

Overall 51% 




II 



FOR THE ZX SPECTRUM 4SK 




We can now offer a limited number 

of Bade Copies to readers 

wtio may have missed out on 

CRASH issues 

Don't wait- they're in short supply! 
Issue Sonwardsi C1-05 



1 



Reese send me CRASH issue No^ 



Postcode 



\ t enclc^e t 



BACK NUMBERS CRASH PO BOX 10 LUDLOW SHROPSHIRE SV81DB^ 



CRASH Christmas Special 189 



DISC DRIVE UPGRADE FOR 

THE SPECTRUM 



mmmmmmiimmmi 



iiiiiiiimiimiiiiiiiiiiuni 



miiuuiiniuiiummuu 




tK3 






#^cxi^tion wTth TifTira 
Dunctoft art re^sponstile for 
the ff^a^ pf oHiir^ifin of ttw* 

compN T<a floppy *^'^^ syirtem 
with (^wmunin^tions fadihy 
forth© Rp©€!tnirn This neat 
lookJog *^mii i* rcwtaif^ Ifl 
four ifidividiial mrylul^^s 
Cipp«d into tt>fl b^ck of (he 
Spedrum m the IfittftoowfNI , 
wiicti oofviect ^ up via 1 wplfM 
cBtA0 to the Cofitroltar unit 
The oonfFolar to a aeifipMe 
Z80 ^^lem wfh Hs own 2K 
R0MdndT6KRAM,and 



Op^nrtlng SyM#ni{TOS) 
wrfitdh do^^ T us© a singt« 
byt** fyl tH© slafiiani Spectrum 
mmnofy ami it atoa not 
oons6^ir>ed Iw rts mie. The 
TOS ts a patm into Sindatr 
Bdsic and all commands are 
teu^d to (he controllw by 
•Ufftikig an * (o thie command. 
TOS supports tree lika 
dnadtone s wHft nam^ 
dMGBHM^ naiTiad fif&s (0 char. 
nameV '^rhm *iijffix)wittt 
protection and caialogya 
atthbufes, pathnames, 
wililc»rd fUe aatecton aiid up 



to 1 6 file Of Miiil dianneis 
open simuhaniaouaJy, ASCII 
and code fil«,CPW 
CTmpatibla It can corrtrol up Eo 
4 discs (2 Mbytes ma^^. I The 
controller has two sefial 
communhcation ports wtth full 
software support for easy 
commMioaOiati with any 
pertph«ral iuch as pnnter, 
pbSsr Of oBher oompuler 
equipped wfth a standard 
RS232C sena! port. The 3 
inch disc driva can be a 40 or 
80 tradi, single or douUesided 
version with a formatted 
npaoi^ of MP to 64DK, Tlie 



pcMiw a4jpply pf ovktes + SV 
arxi ' 12V and will drivattie 
Interface, the oontrollef and up 
to two drives. The 
recommended rewul price is 
£225 + VAT. but Mlcromallc 
ia making a special offer oJ 
£l99+VATfQroidM 
received untu aoth December 
1984, The unit will be 
distrJbLited by mosi of the 
larger diam stores in ttue near 
future. MIcromallccanbe 
contacted at 84 Talbot Road, 
Uf>donN64RA, 
Tel: 01-340 0310. 



190 ca ASH Chrtetmas Special 




Cofitinued fttKn page 182 



i 



JTHEW . 

~mTERMINAL MAM 





CRASH Chrtstmas Special 191 




1 



STORY BY KELVIN GOSNELLo 



DRAWN BY OLIVER FREYc 



t92 CRASH GMsmnatSpedal 




CRASH Christmas SoedaJ 193 




The End 



194 CRASH CtiristmasSpedal 



Integrated Forth, Assembler 

~ ctrum 




X 




,' ' ^ * i . 



/i^ 



NeKt month CURRAH launch ^SOURCE, their 
acJvancecJ pfodiict yet. ^SOURCE lets yoiM 
ana use Au«mbler or FORTH In BASIC iin^j^ yt 
can run these advanced languages by chedhelv ' 
even Integrate them Into BASIC progrpifts. j 

^SOURCE gives you the ability to vwrfte ultlfr-, 
highly compact programs which ui^ the powers of 
all three languages, yet h so user-friendly that even** 
a novice will be using It In minutes! Ac}d advanced 
reaturet like a full Oc bu^ oMfeu can easily correct 






w 
your pi^rarrti. and at £44,50 you can give your 

Spearum on-b^ard programming power only 

found on more experutve machines. 

Send In now for an advance Information pack 
to; CURRAH, Hollymount, Hartlepool T526 OHA. 



C U R R A H 



Matcnoayisnoorafnarv 
^■* ■ soccer game. Blistering 3-D 
action, total animation and 
\ , automatic camera scan 
' * are just some of tne 
intricate techniques 

wfiich make 
'■ Match oav 
1 the league 
Jeaaer of soccer 
games, 
Now follow the 

"Action 

Your striker 
traps trie ball from 
a perfectly placed corner-kick, 
takes on the defender and dribbles 
neatly round him makina space to 



ki 



4 



nis powerful haif- 
vodey rattles tne cross- 
bar the ball returns, 
floating menacingly 
above tne 
penalty 



area 

and your star 
striker seizes 
tbis haif-cbance 



\ 



\i 



^i8i»ai^^^)^)SlJ»^)^;^« 



chip In a teasing 
,»^ cross-ball ro his 
advancing 
team mate 



11 'f* tf^ 



it 



to head tfye ball 
decisively -% 
Into the V > 
back ^-** ^ 
iofme 
Inet.. 

"COAL! \11 



^i^mi mmmmmmm^ 



>* 



six-yard box, There 

is no time to control 

the ball, your player must commit himsetf 1 

to a snap shot on goal 




Match Day is as compelling as 
soccer itsetf . You will man/el at 
the depth of play and ball controi 
offered only in MATCH DAY . . . 
Shoot to win! 

SPKTRUMMk 



^95 l^@) 7-95 

Ocean House ■ 6 Ceniral Street Manchester - M2 5NS Teleplwne 06 18126633 Telex 669977 
Otcai Softw*« e available frwn «te«ed branches of WOOiJMMmf . W H SM HH , ^ ,''JSSE3!5I lASKYS . Rumbelows COMWr 



Spectaim Shops and aJI good scKiwre dcalcR Trade cnqu-i •« wcfcomc,
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